Extraordinary
by Hugs-n-Symmetry
Summary: Sequel to "Boundless". Melody "Red" Marshal is finally beginning to fit in at the DWMA, and the excitement from her recent adventure is fading...until she falls into more trouble. Sometimes sticking your nose where it doesn't belong comes with consequences. And Melody seems to have a real problem with that. Soul/OC.
1. Chapter 1: Cheerios

**If you're reading this and you haven't yet red the prequel to this fic, Boundless, go check it out!**

**A warm hellllo to all my readers, yes I'm back and so is our good friend Melody Marshal! I promised I would be posting this today, the first chapter of the sequel to Boundless, so here you have it. Thanks to all my reviewers that have stuck with me since I started Boundless, and an equally big thanks to anyone just starting the series now!**

* * *

The DWMA has been treating me well for the past few days.

Since we last left off, I've moved into Maka and Soul's apartment, Crona and I have been congratulated by Stein for our first successful attempt at retrieving a kishin soul, and builders have started adding on to the DWMA to prepare for the new students.

Yes, I said new students. A whole school full of them.

This next month is going to be hectic.

* * *

The curtains were yanked open and bright morning light blinded me. "Rise and shine Melody, it's time for school," Maka's stern voice announced. I shielded my eyes from the brightness and grumbled.

"Get out of bed now unless you want me to dump ice water on your face," Maka ordered. I tossed a pillow at her head. "Going to get the water," she sang, and promptly left the room.

I sat up in bed, deciding this would be a good time to get my ass moving.

Blair slunk by the open door, lifting a paw in my direction. "Maka's getting the water," she warned.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." I stood up and walked past her out into the hallway. I nearly stepped on her tail, and she hissed, scrambling back.

"Watch it, Gingy," she snapped. I rolled my eyes and made my way to the kitchen. Maka was just turning away from the sink with a cup full of water when she saw me.

"Oh, Melody," she said, pouring the water back down the drain. "Guess that was a waste of water."

"Don't be silly, it wasn't a waste," I told her, sitting down at the table and pouring myself some cheerios. With my mouth full, I added, "It's more water for the fishies."

She stared at me, with a critical expression on her face. Her eyes narrowed in frustration. I almost laughed out loud at how tense she was acting.

Then came the sound of a door opening and closing, and Soul moved slowly into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Maka. Breakfast," he ordered, taking a seat across from me at the table. I tried not to meet his gaze.

Maka sighed. "Don't be a selfish pig, Soul, get your own damn breakfast."

Soul shrugged and complied, grabbing the box of cheerios and pouring himself a bowl. His arm slipped and he spilled them all over the table. "Oops," he grunted, grabbing handfuls of them and shoving them back in the box.

Maka stiffened. "I live with a bunch of slobs," she grumbled in annoyance, stomping out of the room. Soul laughed quietly to himself as she left.

"Uh, is she gonna be alright?" I asked meekly as Soul slumped over his cheerios.

"Oh, yeah," he replied, dismissing my question with a wave of his spoon. "She gets like this a lot. She probably just went to go clean Blair's litter box or something. Today's one of those days."

"Oh. Okay." I stood up and placed my empty bowl in the sink. I left Soul alone with his thoughts and returned to the room Maka and I shared. I picked out an outfit for the day, a blue blouse and a pair of white shorts, grabbed my brush and a towel, and went to the bathroom. I showered quickly, dressed, then brushed through my red hair that reached just past my shoulder blades. Then I returned to mine and Maka's room to do my makeup.

There came a knock on the door, and I opened it to find Soul standing there casually with his hands in his pockets. "Don't forget we start tutoring today," he mumbled. I nodded, about to shut the door when he added, "Oh and me and Maka are leaving now, you can come with us if you want."

"Sure," I said, "Just hang on a second." I disappeared back into the room and reappeared with my bag over my shoulder. "Let's go," I said. Maka joined us on our way out.

"I still get nervous about leaving this place with Blair," she said through gritted teeth.

"Then maybe you should have stayed home," Soul deadpanned. Maka cringed.

"Are you crazy? You think me of all people would miss school? What is wrong with you?"

As they bickered, my mind drifted. Soul and I hadn't spoken about our trip since Saturday, the day we got back. It was almost as if it had never happened. Almost as if he had never tried to kiss me. I wondered if he had forgotten altogether.

We arrived at the school within fifteen minutes. It was busy, not to mention loud. The construction workers were hard at work on the addition. Maka grumbled something about not being able to hear herself think over all that racket, then none other than Black Star and Tsubaki approached us.

"You are now in the presence of a God," Black Star announced loudly. "Feel free to praise my Godliness!"

Soul and I rolled our eyes, while Maka raised her book and said, "Maka...CHOP!"

Black Star groaned and rolled around on the ground, blood spurting from the book-sized dent in his skull. Tsubaki grimaced nervously. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid today's not a very good day for him," she confessed, pulling him off the ground.

"Yeah? Same for Maka," Soul affirmed. A moment later the same book came crashing into his cranium.

Tsubaki and I sidled away, not wanting to get caught up in the middle of this rampage. "It's going to be a long day," Tsubaki sighed as we walked inside the school. I glanced back at Maka who was screeching and stomping her foot comically at the two boys, flinging her arms through the air like a madwoman. Soul and Black Star were lying like vegetables on the ground, tongues hanging out of their mouths, clutching their throbbing heads.

I laughed to myself and replied, "Tell me about it."

* * *

My second Monday at the academy was nothing like my first.

It was the first time I felt like I fit in at the DWMA. My friends were great to me, I loved my classes, and everything was going much better than it had been before. It was almost like last week had never even happened. But for some reason I still had a small shred of uncertainty, because of course I didn't want all of last week to be forgotten.

I was a little uncomfortable explaining to Stein that I couldn't train with Crona that day because I had to tutor younger children as a punishment for breaking and entering into another academy. He squinted at me from behind his glasses and turned the large screw in his head. Then he laughed.

"I need a break from you two anyway," he mused. "Go tell Crona," he added. I nodded and returned to my seat next to Crona.

"No practice today," I said while packing up my stuff, taking a sideways glance at Crona. He grimaced.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"I have tutoring today," I mumbled.

"Tutoring? W-why?"

I smirked. "For being a troublemaker."

"Oh," he said quietly.

I leaned down and rested my head on my folded arms. Stein was teaching something about dissection, as usual, and I didn't find it necessary to pay attention. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Crona shift awkwardly. I straightened up again, turning to look at him inquiringly.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

He shook his head, his wispy strands of pink hair falling unevenly around his face.

"Crona," I said softly. "You gotta tell me. I'm your partner."

He pouted, took a deep breath, and murmured, "It's just, if we never practice I don't know how I'm ever going to get good enough to turn you into a death scythe."

I raised my eyebrows in his direction. "Is that what this is all about?" He blushed, and I took that as a yes. I sighed. "Crona, we've been practicing a lot. And we still have the whole rest of the week. I only have tutoring on Mondays. So don't worry, it's not like I'm ditching you forever or something." I patted his hand in an attempt to be comforting. "I'm still your partner. You'll make me a death scythe soon enough."

He nodded, but I could still sense the doubt in his demeanor. I took a deep breath and buried my head in my hands. Stein's lectures on dissecting were so boring I think I would rather have been the one being dissected.


	2. Chapter 2: Cupcake?

**I created quite a lot of OCs in this chapter. but they become very important to the storyline, trust me.(;**

**Long chapter, hope you guys like! oh and i dont know if i'll be updating tomorrow so hopefully this is enough to hold you guys over till friday!  
**

**review please, love you all sooooo much.  
**

* * *

Finally the bell rang and my last class for the day ended. I grabbed my stuff and headed to the Death Room, running into Soul on the way there.

"Excited to be a tutor, Red?" he asked playfully. I shrugged. "Sure seems like it," he continued. "Slow down a little, I can barely keep up."

"Okay, maybe I'm a little excited," I admitted.

He snorted. "Why? They're just kids. They'll probably drool all over that pretty blue shirt of yours."

I stiffened, shrugging off his compliment. "They're not that young are they?"

"No, they're like ten."

I stopped in front of the door to the Death Room. "Well that's a relief," I said.

"If you say so," he replied, stepping past me and opening the door. As we walked through the arches into the room, Lord Death turned around.

"Ah, Miss Marshal, Mr. Evans, how nice to see you two. Haven't gotten into anymore trouble now, have you?"

"Of course we have, who do you think you're talking to?" Soul quipped, grinning toothily. Lord Death chuckled.

"Guess it was dumb of me to ask," he replied, rubbing the chin of his skull-mask thoughtfully with his large reaper hand. "Now what are you two here for again?"

"Tutoring," Soul grunted remorsefully.

"Ah, yes," Lord Death said, snapping his fingers. "Find room 23 on the first floor, there you will find the samurai teacher Mr. Mifune. He teaches the younger children. He already knows your coming so he kept a small group of less-advanced children after class let out just for you." He handed Soul a few sheets of paper that seemed to come out of thin air. "Give those to him, those are your teaching contracts. It proves legitimacy, that you have permission from Lord Death himself to teach his students." He waved his large white hand dismissively at us. "Run along now, you'll want to hurry. Don't want to keep the children waiting."

Soul turned and led the way out of the Death Room, mumbling curses to himself under his breath.

"Now, now, Soul," I said, pulling my contract out of his hands. "They're just kids. The worst they can do is drool on that classy black jacket of yours."

He stopped grumbling abruptly and looked at me, red eyes wide with shock. Then his face broke into a wide grin. "You're one of a kind, Marshal."

"Oh, please," I bantered, trying to keep the blush off my face. "Tell me something I don't know."

"Room 23," he said, stopping suddenly. To our right was the door marked 23. Soul wasted no time in opening it and stepping inside. Following close behind him, I took in our surroundings. It was a small classroom, only twenty or so desks, and they were the kind of desks that were set up separately in rows, instead of the college-style amphitheater desks we had in our classes. There was a man with long blonde hair sitting on the teacher's desk at the front of the room - yes, sitting _on _the desk, his legs crossed underneath him casually. The toothpick in his mouth tilted up as he smiled at the sight of us.

"You must be the tutors Shinigami-sama sent," the man said.

Soul and I nodded together. "And you must be Mr. Mifune," Soul replied.

"You're correct," the man said. We both handed him our contracts and he stared at them for a moment, then ripped them both in half and tossed them in the trash. Beside me, Soul went rigid, his fists clenched, and I could tell Mr. Mifune's display of cheeky carelessness had annoyed him. Mifune's gaze went to the center of the room where there was a group of about five or six students gathered, staring at us with wide, innocent eyes.

"Well, they're waiting for you," Mifune said expectantly. "What exactly are you planning on teaching them?"

"We, uh, haven't really planned anything -" I started, but was interrupted by Soul.

"Battle techniques," he said loudly. Mifune chuckled.

"I think you should wait on that," the samurai said bemusedly. "They don't start learning about battling for another year or so. Maybe for today you should just start with getting to know them."

Soul mumbled some nasty things under his breath, but I rolled my eyes, grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the children. "I'll be going now," Mifune said, standing up and heading towards the door.

Alarmed, I turned around to face him and asked, "Where are you going?"

He pulled the toothpick out of his mouth and tossed it in the trash on top of the shredded contracts. "I've got a witch to look after," he replied indifferently. "Lock the door behind you when you leave."

After he left, I turned around to see Soul surrounded by the children. One was clinging onto his arm, biting his sleeve. Drool was running out of his mouth onto the sleeve of Soul's jacket. Soul looked horrified, and proceeded to wave his arm about, trying to shake the child off. I burst out laughing.

"Don't just stand there laughing, get this thing off me Red," he yelped. Still laughing, I pried the child away from Soul.

"We don't bite people," I told the child sternly. His eyes widened.

"He's a person?" the child breathed, looking in awe at Soul. "I thought he was a cupcake!"

The other children burst into a fit of laughter. Soul's face reddened, in anger or humiliation, I couldn't tell. Stifling back my own laughter, I said, "Now why in the world would Soul be a cupcake?"

"He has white hair," the child said quietly, looking at his feet in shame. "It looked like frosting."

I facepalmed. The children laughed again, and Soul's hands went to his hair impulsively, the tips of it sticking out from between his fingers like alfalfa. I looked back to the child and said, "I think you should apologize to Soul for making him feel insecure."

"Hey!" Soul shouted, flustered. "I am not insecure!"

"Shut up you idiot and let the damn kid apologize!" I recovered from my burst of anger and rubbed my temples, trying to relieve the stress that the white-haired moron and these kids were putting on me. When I looked back to the children they were all staring at me with wide frightened eyes, leaning as far back as possible to stay away from the crazy ginger. Aggravated, I sweat-dropped and said, "Nevermind." I sat on top of a desk in front of the children and Soul.

"I'm Melody, and this is Soul," I told them.

Soul snickered. "Just call her Red," he told them. "That's her real name. Melody is just her cover-up name."

I whacked Soul. "And call him Idiot. Soul is just his cover-up name."

"Hi Red, hi Idiot," the children chorused. I smirked, and Soul grumbled something inaudible.

"Now, tell us your names," I said to the children. The first one to speak up was a tall, blonde boy. The thing that struck me about him were his grey eyes, they were so shiny they almost looked silver.

"I'm James," he said. He was loud, and confident, and his face was turned up in a smirk similar to the one Soul usually wore.

"Nice to meet you, James," I said. "Weapon or meister?"

"Meister, of course," he replied matter-of-factly. "Someday I'm gonna create a death weapon."

"Whoa tiger, slow down a bit," I said playfully, "That's a long ways away."

"Oh yeah?" James challenged. "What about you, weapon or meister?"

"Weapon," I said, not quite sure where this was going.

James raised a blonde eyebrow at me. "And how old are you?"

"Fifteen..."

He laughed cruelly. "And you're not a death weapon yet? Pathetic."

I gritted my teeth as Soul burst out laughing. I turned around to give him a death glare, and he abruptly stopped, trying to mask it by coughing.

"I'm new to the academy," I told James stiffly. "This is only my second week."

"Ah." He nodded. "Good luck. You better hurry, or I might surpass you."

I cleared my throat and turned to the other students. "Who's next?"

A girl with curly, auburn hair spoke up. "I'm Ashen," she said. She had a dark complexion and long, dark lashes that framed her hazel eyes. "Weapon."

"Nice to meet you, Ashen," I said, smiling. "What kind of weapon are you?"

"Nun-chucks," she replied.

"Nice one, unique," I said. I turned to the other students. "Anyone else?"

The next student to speak up caught my attention. It was a short redheaded boy with dark blue eyes. "I'm Crimson," he said. "Weapon."

"Really?" I asked. "What kind of weapon?"

"Scythe." He smiled lopsidedly.

"Me too," I said, my smile matched his.

Soul spoke up from beside me. "Hey, me too," he interrupted. I paid no attention to him. He didn't know of the ginger bond that Crimson and I shared.

I turned to the next kid. "What about you?"

It was a small, timid-looking girl with bright pink hair - more like Kim's color than Crona's. She bit her lip and said, "Hana," so quiet I barely heard her. "Meister."

I tilted my head at her. "You wouldn't happen to have an older sister, would you?"

Hana nodded. "Kim. Do you know her?"

I smiled. "Yes, she's a friend of mine." Hana smiled shyly back. I turned to the last child, the boy who had bitten Soul earlier. "And you are?"

"AJ," he answered loftily.

James snorted. "No, he's Archie," he objected loudly. "Archibald Jamal. But he's too embarrassed by his name to call himself that."

I turned in James's direction. "Did I ask you?"

"Well, no, but -"

"Then shut the hell up."

James blinked once, his silver eyes wide with shock. Then, hesitantly, he withdrew, relaxing into his seat silently. Satisfied, I turned back to AJ.

"Weapon or meister?" I asked him.

"Weapon," he said. His hair was a strange bright green color and it stuck out at odd angles and hung in his face awkwardly. His eyes were so dark brown they were almost black. Then I realized that the lighting was just making them look lighter, and that they actually were black. He was as pale as a sheet of paper. His teeth were razor sharp, sort of like Soul's. Weird kid.

"What kind of weapon?" I asked, genuinely curious. This had to be good.

"Sword," he answered plainly. I tried to hide my disappointment.

"Oh. Just a sword?"

He nodded.

"My friend is the Enchanted Sword," I continued. "You don't have a fancy name or anything? You're just a plain old sword?"

He nodded again, slower this time, as if to get it to sink into my head. I sighed in compliance.

"Alright," I said. "Well it was nice to meet you all. Is there anything else you'd like to know about Soul and I before we dismiss you?"

Ashen raised her hand, and I called on her. "Do you guys like each other?" she asked. After a moment I realized she was asking both of us. It caught me by surprise and as much as I wanted to answer that question I had no clue how, and no sound would come out of my mouth at all. I snuck a sideways glance at Soul, who looked amused.

"I dunno, do we?" he exchanged playfully. His ruby red eyes glinted.

Ashen giggled. "You do!"

"And why do you say that?" he asked coolly.

"I can tell," she replied buoyantly. "You act like you do."

"Do we now?" Soul was obviously amused. "And how's that?"

"Well you flirt," she answered, puzzled because she thought it was obvious. "You say mean things that you don't really mean to try and cover up your feelings, because you're afraid the other one doesn't feel the same way."

My heart nearly stopped in my chest. How could this ten year old girl be better at figuring out my feelings than I was? I stole another glance at Soul. His mischievous attitude was now fading, he was becoming hard to read because whatever he was feeling now was covered up by his usually calm and collected demeanor. He said nothing.

"Class is over," I said after a long silence. "You're all free to leave. See you back here next Monday."

Hana surprised me by hugging me, throwing her arms around my middle. "Bye Red," she said quietly, then left.

AJ hugged me next. "See you next week, Gingy," he said, and followed Hana out. Then Crimson hugged me, then Ashen, and she winked at me before she left. Only James was left. He stared at me analytically, then picked up his books and awkwardly left without hugging me like the others had.

"Crazy group of kids," I said to myself, watching the last of them file out the door. Soul nodded silently in agreement.

"The green haired one, the sword," he said, deep in thought. "There's something about him."

"You mean AJ, the one who thought you were a cupcake?" I teased as we left the room. I locked the door behind me as Mifune had said to do.

"Yeah, him. I don't think he's just a regular sword. But I don't think even he knows that. He seemed much too oblivious."

"What makes you say that?" I asked, puzzled.

Soul shrugged. "Just a hunch."


	3. Chapter 3: Type

**Forgive me if Maka is a little OOC in this chapter. its sometimes tough just getting her character as it is to work with the storyline. she's so defiant, she refuses to cooperate.(;**

* * *

It was nearly dinnertime by the time we got back to the apartment.

"About time you guys got back," Maka said when we walked through the door. Soul collapsed on the couch and kicked off his shoes lazily. Maka scrunched up her nose. "Pick those up, Soul."

"Nah." He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, flipping through the channels. I decided to help Maka out, so I grabbed Soul's shoes for her and tossed them into his room.

"Thank you, Melody," she said. "I just got done cleaning the place."

I nodded and sat at the kitchen table. "What's for dinner?"

"Leftover pizza from last night," she said, embarrassed.

"Maka's not the best cook so you should be grateful," Soul chimed in from his spot in the living room. Then a book went flying in his direction.

A human Blair came bursting through the door. "I'm home guys!" she gushed. There was an assortment of shopping bags hanging from her arms. "Just went on a short shopping trip, that's all."

"Where'd you get the money for that from?" Maka asked while setting the table.

"Hm? Oh, Spirit took me." Blair skipped innocently into her bedroom.

Maka froze, and her eye twitched. Quickly, I took the plates from her hands and finished setting the table before she dropped them all or started throwing them.

"Why do I live here still?" I heard Soul grumble to himself when I walked past him on my way to mine and Maka's bedroom. "I'm surrounded by catty women. Literally."

I laughed and rolled my eyes. When I approached the door to my bedroom I heard Blair giggling to herself behind the door. I slowly opened it and peered inside. She was holding up one of her new outfits, seeming so amused by it.

"Er, Blair what are you doing?" I asked, inching into the room. She turned around and her mouth made a little 'o' shape when she saw me.

"Just trying things on," she chirped. "I bought some things for you and Maka and Soul. Do you want yours now?" She reached her hand inside on of the bags and started digging around.

"I suppose," I said awkwardly, hands in my pockets. I had to admit I was a little bit curious.

"A-ha," Blair said, and out of the bag she pulled...a wig. A dark-brown colored one. My fake smile slid off my face like goo.

"I thought it would be nice to cover up that hideous red mop of yours," she said, sounding more condescending than helpful.

"Thanks," I said through gritted teeth as I took the wig from her.

"Oh, one other thing," she said, plunging her hand back into the bag. "I bought this for myself but then I figured out it didn't fit, and I don't think Maka would want it, so you can have it." She pulled out a lacy black shirt and held it in my direction. I took it gingerly, the fabric that wasn't in my grasp falling around my hands like water.

"Oh, _thanks_ Blair," I said again, this time dripping with sarcasm. She didn't seem to catch it.

"You're welcome!" she chirped. "I figure that stuff will really help with your image!"

I turned and tossed the gifts on the desk. After a moment I sat down on the bed that had been pulled in here for me the day after I moved in - Soul had done all the heavy lifting work. Me and my clumsiness would probably have ended up knocking everything over, then I would have had a temper tantrum and destroyed everything. I chuckled at the thought.

"Hm? What's so funny?" Blair asked, perking up.

I shook my head. "Oh, it's nothing."

She sat down next to me. "You've been acting strange lately," she said, crossing her legs daintily. I grimaced.

"Blair, you've only known me for a few days."

She sighed and waved her hand about. "Never mind that!" She settled down and propped her arms up behind her, leaning back. "What's on your mind?"

I arched an eyebrow in her direction.

"Come on now, you can tell sweet innocent kitty Blair, my lips are sealed, I promise," she cooed, fluttering her eyelashes at me. "What is it? _Boys_?"

I interrupted her pressuring. "Soul likes girls...right?"

"Er," she sweat-dropped, "Well he's most certainly not gay, if that's what you're wondering, he's gotten nosebleeds over my hot body plenty of times -"

I interrupted her, not wanting to hear any more. "Of course he's not gay," I snapped, flustered. I could feel the heat rising to my face. "I already know that he's _attracted_ to girls. I asked if he was _romantically interested_ in them."

Blair's eyes widened. "You like him?" she squealed. "That is sooo -"

"Shut the hell up!" I hissed, jumping towards her and flailing my arms to get her to stop being so loud.

She giggled and put her hand over her mouth. "Oops."

"I do _not_ like him," I demurred quietly. She giggled again.

"Silly girl, don't deny it, I already knew! That's the only reason I asked in the first place," she smiled mischievously at me.

I rolled my eyes. "I don't, okay? I was just wondering cause I can't shake the feeling that he might be interested in me..." I blushed, feeling silly saying it.

Maka's voice called down the hallway for us. "Melody, Blair! Dinner's ready!"

"Be right there," Blair and I chorused. She turned back to me, suddenly business-like.

"You think he might be interested in you?" she asked slowly. I nodded, wishing she would get on with it.

"I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of things he likes in girls..."

"You're asking me if he has a type?" She inspected her fingernails thoughtfully. That wasn't what I was asking, but it would do. "Well, hot girls definitely." She looked me up and down. "I suppose you would do, you're not as hot as me but you've definitely got it." I scowled and she went on, "She has to be able to make him laugh. Not many things amuse Soul so if a girl makes him laugh she must mean something to him." She tapped her chin, obviously racking her brain for more. "I don't think there's anything else," she said. "He doesn't seem that interested in girls beyond their physical appearance."

My scowl deepened. She wasn't being much help, I was beginning to regret coming to her in the first place.

She brightened up, seeming to get an idea. "I could ask him if you want," she offered cheerily. Horrified at that notion, I shook my head so fast I could've given myself whiplash.

"No, that's fine, I'd rather you not," I protested quickly. After a deep breath, I added, "This stays between us, right?"

"Of course!" she giggled. "My lips are sealed." She jumped up and sauntered towards the door. "I'm hungry, let's go get some grub."


	4. Chapter 4: Oh Snap

Another week passed by uneventfully. Soul started to seem distant around everyone else, but then when it was just me and him he was back to his regular cool, sarcastic self. That Friday we had our regular gathering and dinner at the apartment, and although it was only my second time, I felt like I had been doing it forever.

Then the weekend was boringly regular. Maka, Tsubaki, Liz, Patty and I all had a girls night, then on Sunday Crona and I had an extra-curricular lesson where we had to pair up with Black Star and Tsubaki to defeat a kishin who was hoarding some hidden key or something. According to Lord Death it was very important that we didn't mess this mission up. Shockingly, even with all of Black Star's shouting and "assassin skills", the mission was successful, and we returned to Lord Death with the needed key. He rewarded us by giving us each an extra kishin soul.

Monday rolled around and not much had changed. I was anxious for another tutoring session, wanting to spend more time with the kids. Soul showed his usual disdain for the tutoring project which he still viewed as a harsh punishment. "Might as well wear a waterproof jacket," he grumbled as the bell for our last class rang and we started on our way downstairs to room 23.

I laughed. "Soul, AJ is not going to drool on you again." I quickly added, "Now that he knows your not a cupcake..."

Soul scowled. When we walked inside room 23, Hana and AJ yelled "Red!" and ran to hug me. Mifune, who was sitting on top of his desk as usual, chuckled.

"They tell me last week went good?" he said, stepping down off his desk. I nodded. "Good to hear. In class we've been learning about the meister-weapon relationship so maybe you could start going over that a little with them." He clapped me on the shoulder and said, "Good luck," then walked out.

"He was quick to get outta here," Soul griped.

"He has a witch to look after," I reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

I rubbed the back of my neck thoughtfully. "Maybe we could ask Sid if we could start leaving his class early on Mondays to get here quicker."

"Red," he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him, bewildered. "Sometimes it's best to just stop thinking."

The children laughed. I frowned and shrugged his hand off my shoulder.

"Meister-weapon relationships, huh?" I said, turning my attention to the kids. "Who can tell me what a meister does?"

James's hand shot into the air. "Yes, James?"

"Fights," he said quickly, his blonde eyebrows knitted together in a determined line.

I chewed on my lip, unsure how to reply. "Yes, but that's not all," I said. James's confident look soon turned puzzled. "Does anyone know what else the meister does?"

No one said anything. Hana looked like she wanted to speak, then thought better of it, and looked down at her shoes.

Soul stepped forward. Shocked, I looked towards him, and he nodded to me. I stepped back and let him handle it. "This is the way Lord Death describes it," he started. "Picture the meister playing a guitar."

"Why?" Ashen asked. Soul shook his head.

"Nevermind that. Just picture it. An electric guitar, with no amp. It makes a quiet, little sound, right? Well if you plug it into an amp, it makes a huge loud noise!" He pretended to play an air guitar. Standing on the sidelines, I laughed with the children, amused but shocked that Soul was secretly so good with kids. "So if the meister is the guitar, then the weapon must be the amp. You plug in the amp to make a louder noise, just like a meister uses a weapon to channel more power. Understand?"

The children nodded, making noises of awe. "It makes a lot more sense now..." Hana murmured to herself. Crimson and AJ quietly agreed.

Soul turned and looked at me, grinning toothily.

"Look at this guy, thinks he's a hotshot just cause he's suddenly good with kids," I teased, stepping up beside him.

"You forgot _great_ on the air guitar," he replied haughtily.

I rolled my eyes, then turned back to the children. "Any questions?" I asked.

AJ raised his hand and blurted, "Who are your meisters?"

"Mine's Crona," I said. "You might have seen him before, he's kinda hard to miss. He has pink hair."

Hana gasped. "Like mine?"

I shook my head. "No, Crona's is actually more purple. He's really shy and he doesn't talk much."

Ashen gasped. "I know who you're talking about! Is he the one that has that screaming sword?" Then her eyes widened. "Are you the screaming sword?"

I laughed. "No, I'm not, I'm a scythe, remember? Crona got rid of the screaming sword, Ragnarok a while ago. So don't worry."

Ashen let out her breath, seemingly relieved. "What about you?" she asked Soul curiously.

"My meister is none other than the amazing Maka Albarn," he announced proudly. This caught my attention, and I stared at him, trying to figure him out. How could he go from insulting Maka and pissing her off completely, to praising her and calling her amazing?

"_The_ Maka Albarn?" James crowed. "The one who defeated Asura?"

Soul nodded coolly, flashing me a wide sharp grin.

"Wow, cool," the kids breathed in unison.

"Were you there when it happened?" Crimson asked. Soul nodded.

"I was knocked out, though," he admitted. "Only because I stood in front of her to take a blow that would have killed her."

I ran my hand through my strawberry hair, getting irritated by his bragging.

"You're cooler than Red, Soul!" AJ exclaimed. My fists clenched.

_That's it._ "So," I interrupted loudly, stopping Soul from whatever boast was coming out of his mouth next. "When are you guys getting your partners?"

"Mifune said not till next year," Ashen said sadly.

James snorted. "I'm getting mine next month."

"You can't," AJ contravened. "Mifune said we have to wait -"

"Shut the hell up _Archie_, no one's gonna want to be your partner anyway," James snapped.

AJ's face fell. "You take that back, James Hearthrow."

James laughed cruelly. "Never. You know I'm right, you can't deny it. You're just being a prick because you know that when the time for partner-choosing rolls around, you'll be stuck all by yourself."

AJ's fists clenched and he shut his eyes tight. "You're wrong," he said quietly.

"James," I said quickly, "I think you should -"

James paid no mind to me. "I'm right," he spat at AJ. "I'm always right! The sooner you come to terms with that, the less pain you'll be faced with."

Desperately, I looked to Soul for help, but he seemed to be at as much of a loss as me.

"_YOU'RE WRONG_!" AJ screeched suddenly. Both mine and Soul's attention snapped back to AJ, and to our horror we watched the scene unfold. AJ seemed to light up with anger as his whole body glowed and his bright green hair stood on end. His black eyes were now much larger - in fact the black had spread, now not just his eyeballs were black, but the whole eye as well. They looked like two pitch black stones in his eye sockets - but of course they were glowing too, along with the rest of his body. He screamed and lurched forward towards James and there was a blinding flash of light in which Soul and I both had to cover our eyes or else be blinded. When the light finally faded we recovered ourselves and looked around to see the three other children huddled in the corner, as far away from the action as possible.

Then we looked down to see AJ sitting on the floor, huddled in a position with his knees up to his face. He was still glowing but his black eyes had shrunk back to their regular size. His hair was still a bit more all-over-the-place than usual. Then on the floor a few feet away, lie James. He was sprawled out in an awkward position and I nearly had a heart attack until I saw his chest rise and fall, realizing he was still breathing. Relieved I dropped to my knees next to him.

"What did you do to him?" I asked AJ breathlessly, taking James's head and carefully putting it in my lap. His breathing was ragged and shallow.

AJ shrugged. His eyes were wide and frightened.

"AJ," I said louder, firmer, "What did you do?"

Soul placed his hand on my shoulder. I relaxed a bit, burying my head in my hands.

"I don't think he knew he could do that," Soul murmured so only I could hear.

"No, of course not," I replied, sighing. I looked back down towards James. I saw his eyes move beneath his closed eyelids. Gently, I pulled him off my lap and propped him up against the wall.

"You guys can go," I said softly to the other children. "You're dismissed."

They quickly filed out. "I-I'm sorry," AJ choked out, before rubbing his eyes and scurrying away.

I turned to Soul. "Do you think we should take him to Stein?"

Soul shook his head. "He seems fine to me."

Puzzled, I turned back around to see James staring at me, a scowl written on his face. "What the hell happened?" he asked crossly.

"Uh, AJ -" I started, but he cut me off.

"AJ's a basket case," he grunted, standing up. He shot me one last threatening look before turning away and heading towards the door. "Keep him away from me."


	5. Chapter 5: Visit

I watched, annoyed, as Black Star did push up after push up, still not answering my question.

"Black Star," I said again, clutching the fabric of my shirt in my clenched fists so I wouldn't hit him. "Just tell me where Mifune lives."

He sat down, relaxing from his ten thousandth push up, took a swig of water and slurred, "Why do you wanna know?" Lazily, he swiped a muscular arm across his sweaty forehead.

"Tutoring stuff," I answered quickly. "Now would you just—"

"Nope, sorry, can't."

I growled and was about to lunge towards him when Soul grabbed my arms, holding me back.

Tsubaki's voice echoed from the hallway. "Black Star, are you in here?" She poked her head in the door. "You need to—oh Soul, Melody, hello! What brings you two here?"

"We need to know the whereabouts of the samurai Mifune," Soul grumbled.

"Why, he lives here, silly," Tsubaki chirped. Soul stiffened and looked towards Black Star, who was lying on his back holding his stomach, with his legs straight up in the air, cackling loudly. He was obviously amused at the trouble he had put us through. I would have facepalmed if Soul hadn't been holding both my arms.

Tsubaki looked at us apologetically for Black Star's behavior. "Come with me," she said, disappearing out the door again. Soul and I exchanged a glance then started after her.

"See you guys later," Black Star hollered before starting on his ten thousand and first push up.

We followed Tsubaki to a long wooden stairway. She led us down it, and when we came to the bottom, there was Mifune, sitting cross-legged with a toothpick in his mouth. "Ah, my tutors," he said when he saw us. "Thank you, Tsubaki," he said. Tsubaki bowed to him, then left.

"What brings you here?" he asked, pulling the toothpick out of his mouth and tossing it aside.

"I thought you were supposed to be looking after a witch," Soul said with gritted teeth.

Mifune chuckled. "I am, she's just through there taking a nap," he said, gesturing to the wooden door behind him. "I am her guardian. I make sure no one tries to harm her."

Soul said nothing.

"Sit," Mifune said gently. Obediently, I sat on the bottom step of the staircase in front of him. After a short hesitation, Soul did the same. "Is there a reason you two came to see me?" he asked, his gaze shifting from Soul to me.

"Yes," I started. "Your student, AJ..."

Mifune looked momentarily puzzled. "Oh, you mean Archie," he said, nodding once. "Yes, he's sure an extraordinary one, isn't he?"

"Er, yes sir," I said nervously. "But, you haven't noticed anything...unusual about him, have you?"

Mifune looked unconcerned. "No. Have you?"

"He's a ticking time-bomb of crazy ready to explode at any given second," Soul mumbled under his breath. I elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"Does he get teased a lot?" I asked Mifune, getting to the point.

After a moment's silence, Mifune nodded solemnly. "Most of the teasing is done by James. Those two don't exactly get along."

"Why not?" I asked. I was determined to get to the bottom of this.

Mifune ignored my question. "Did something happen today between those two? They're always getting into arguments."

Confused, I nodded quickly. "Yes, um, James said something cruel to AJ..."

"What was it?" Mifune interrupted.

I sighed, wishing Mifune wouldn't keep interrupting me. "James said AJ would never find a partner."

Mifune nodded slowly, registering this information. "And what did AJ do?"

Perplexed, I stuttered, "Well, he, uh..."

Soul interrupted. "He attacked James."

"Attacked him?" The samurai looked apathetic. "How?"

"We didn't see," Soul admitted. "It was too bright."

"I see."

"He was glowing though," Soul added. "And his eyes were huge. Then there was a blinding light, and the next thing we knew he was sitting on the ground back to normal, and James was lying on the ground knocked out." He stopped, taking a deep breath. "Judging by the other kids' reactions, it didn't seem like that had ever happened before."

"It hasn't," Mifune said simply.

"AJ didn't act like he knew he could do that, either."

"He probably didn't."

I was beginning to get frustrated. I had thought that coming to Mifune might clear things up a little, but unfortunately this was getting us no where. If anything, it left us with more questions than answers.

It was silent. "Why don't James and AJ get along?" I asked boldly.

Mifune looked at us, expressionless. "I don't know."

"You're lying," Soul blurted. Alarmed, I looked sideways at him, to see him leaning back calmly, as cool and collected as ever. I was about to nudge him and tell him to watch himself, then to my surprise, Mifune chuckled.

"So confident in your accusations," Mifune said submissively. "Young weapon, you are correct."

Soul shot a smirk in my direction, which I returned with an eye roll.

"You wish to know why James and AJ don't get along?" Mifune asked.

"Yes, we do," I answered quickly, before Soul could blurt anything else out.

Mifune sighed and sat back aloofly, stretching his arms behind his head. "Well, I'm afraid it's quite complicated. Very personal matters to AJ."

"Just tell us already, you stupid samurai," Soul snapped, visibly aggravated. I pinched his arm and he flinched.

Mifune laughed again. "So impatient. You have much to learn." He paused, eyeing us both wordlessly, then continued, "It's because of AJ's family. His heritage."

"What about it?" I asked, my curiosity growing.

"His family is very powerful. They don't always use their power for good, which goes against James's beliefs. As cruel as James may seem, he has a very pure and good heart, just fails to portray that the right way sometimes." Mifune stuck another toothpick in his mouth and chewed on it. "He thinks AJ's family is up to something and needs to be stopped for good. So he handles it the only way he can, which is with AJ in the classroom. That's why he's so anxious to find a weapon partner already. He wants to get down to business with AJ's family and finally put a stop to whatever they're up to."

Wide-eyed, I glanced at Soul, only to find that compared to me, he didn't look shocked at all. As usual, he was hiding his emotions behind his placid attitude. "What classifies AJ's family as evil?" Soul asked with an even tone.

Mifune shook his head. "No, no. Don't be so naive. His family is not evil."

"But you said -"

"I said they were powerful," Mifune corrected. "They just don't use that power for entirely 'good' purposes. You see, his stepmother's a witch, and his father..."

At the slightest hesitation, I leapt forward, not wanting to miss a bit of the story. "His father is?" I asked quickly.

Mifune laughed. "Calm down, young mistress, I'm getting there."

Soul pulled me back and grabbed my hand in an effort to calm me, which was successful in occupying my mind but now I was even more worked up on the inside because - Soul was holding my hand?

Mifune went on, unfathomed by my outburst. "His father is a Phantom."


	6. Chapter 6: Promise

**I'm so so so so so so sorry to everyone! i know its been a LONG LONG time since i updated this and i'm sorrrry. i just forgot D; anyway there is still lots to come, so if i even have ANY reviewers left i hope you do stick around cause things are about to get reaaaal good.**

**i know in the soul eater world there is no such thing as a "phantom" , or well as far as we know there isn't, i just thought i'd throw my own little twist in there with some OCs. i mean, it is my fanfiction, after all.**

**PS, Soul might seem a little OOC in this chapter. hope y'all can look past that.**

**love you all and I hope you stuck with mee. (:**

* * *

"A Phantom?" I cried, bewildered. I was definitely unimpressed by this statement. "What the hell is a Phantom?"

Mifune laughed again, and Soul slapped his hand over my mouth, looking at Mifune and chuckling nervously. "Sorry, she's a little immature," he said, then yelped and withdrew his hand from my face because I had bitten it.

"What the hell Red, first that kid now you?" he hollered, nursing his throbbing hand.

"Don't put your grubby paws near my mouth next time," I warned furiously. "And don't call me immature, you should take a look in the mirror hotshot -"

"That's enough," Mifune said. Soul and I both stopped bickering abruptly when two of Mifune's swords were suddenly at our necks. "Stop arguing, you sound like children." After a moment he withdrew his swords and re-sheathed them.

Now that I had calmed down, I asked again, "What's a Phantom?"

"I think that's a question for Lord Death," Mifune answered calmly. "This conversation is over. You've woken up Angela." Almost as if on cue, there was a child's cry from behind the wooden door Mifune had his back to. He stood up silently, gave us one last solemn look, then turned and walked inside the room, shutting the door behind him.

"A question for Lord Death?" I echoed, unmoving. Soul stood up and held his hand out to me, which I took and he helped me up.

"Way to go Red, you messed it all up," he murmured, his face dangerously close to mine.

I scoffed. "_I_ messed it all up? _You're_ the one who -" I stopped suddenly. There was an airheaded smirk plastered across his face. He was only kidding.

"Relax, Red," he said, laughing. "We can go to Lord Death and ask him tomorrow. How's that sound?"

I sweatdropped, feeling stupid. "Why do you do this to me?"

He shrugged. "Cause I can. Now come on." He started back up the stairway. "Maka's probably freaking out."

* * *

"Where were you two?" Maka asked when we walked through the door. "I was worried and your dinner's getting cold -"

"Don't get your granny panties in a bunch," Soul retorted, walking past her towards the bedrooms. "We were at Black Star and Tsubaki's."

"Oh." Maka tried to blink the hurt look off her face. "Why were you there?"

All Maka got in reply was the slamming of Soul's door. Disappointed, she looked down at the food on the table. I sat down and started digging in.

She sat across from me. "Have you noticed Soul's been acting very strange lately?" she asked loftily.

I nodded, mouth full. I gulped loudly and replied, "Ever since the trip. I wonder what's going on with him?"

She sighed, tracing patterns in the wood of the table with her finger. "It's not like him to skip dinner," she murmured, staring at the carton of orange juice in front of her. She was visibly deep in thought.

"Don't worry so much about it," I said. She glanced up at me, seeming to remember I was there. I offered her a small smile. Nervously, she smiled back.

"It just...throws off our resonance when he acts like this."

My smile faded. "Well, partners are supposed to talk to each other, right? That helps resonance?"

She nodded, brightening up. "You're a genius Mel, I'll go talk to him about it. That should fix things." She jumped up, nodded once cheerily to me, and quickly left the room.

Left alone with my thoughts, I leaned back in my chair, twirling a strand of my strawberry hair between my fingers. Suddenly I wasn't very hungry anymore.

Soul and Maka had such an intimate partner relationship, and I was starting to feel like I was intruding. If Soul was acting this way because of me, then their crappy resonance was also in a way my fault, slowing down the rate they collect kishin souls. No wonder Soul was feeling conflicted, he had wanted to be a Death Scythe more than anything, but now that I was in the picture...

I shook my head, stopping my thoughts there. I wasn't even sure that Soul liked me that way. He was so good at covering up his feelings. So why couldn't I just confront him about it like Maka does?

_Why do I have to be such a goddamn coward?_

* * *

The next day, Soul and I left for school early to talk to Lord Death.

I hardly said anything on the way there, for fear of saying the wrong thing or blurting out something that was supposed to stay_ in_ my head. Thankfully he was silent as well. When I stole a glance at his face he looked distracted and deep in thought. I wondered to myself if things were going to change between me and him. I hoped they wouldn't. Then I felt guilty about it.

Curse you, conscience.

"You two again?" Lord Death asked mockingly when he saw us enter the Death Room. "What did you do now?"

I laughed, attempting to humor him, but Soul remained expressionless. If anything he looked a little bored, and kind of like he would rather be anywhere but there. I sighed, and decided to get on with things. "We have to ask you a question, Lord Death," I said seriously.

"Yes? What is it, Miss Marshal?"

I took a deep breath, then blurted, "What's a Phantom?"

Lord Death was silent. I think the question took him by surprise. He finally spoke. "Oh. Oh, my. You two might want to sit down."

Soul and I did as told, sitting down on the floor and crossing our legs beneath us as Lord Death went on. "In the old days, Phantoms were the guardians of the humans," he said. "They were the ones made to ensure that no kishins got their hands on the human souls. But as time went on and the kishin population grew, the Phantom population depleted. There wasn't enough around to protect the human race anymore, so that job was passed on to me. These days you hardly hear of any Phantoms around here."

"And what exactly do Phantoms do?" I asked, curious.

"Well, some of them can be meisters or weapons. They also have a great amount of magical powers, even more than some witches. But even more important, they can control time."

"Control time? What...do you mean?"

"Bend it, warp it, send someone to the future or past - anything."

My mouth suddenly went very dry.

"I suggest you stay away from anyone you think might be a Phantom," Lord Death warned eerily. "Most Phantoms these days are said to practice dark magic and are known to have very cold hearts. Not someone you want to get mixed up with."

I nodded quickly. My mind drifted to AJ, and I felt incredibly worried for him.

"You're awfully quiet today, Soul," Lord Death observed.

"Got a lot on my mind."

"Hmm." Lord Death seemed a bit unsettled. "Will that be all, you two?"

I nodded, standing up. Soul did the same. "Thanks, Lord Death," I said, then turned and hurried out of the Death Room.

"Slow down, Red," Soul said, as he caught up with me. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"

"I thought you had_ too much on your mind_ to talk to me," I reproached, glancing at him. He shrugged. "I'm going to find AJ."

"Whoa, wait." Soul grabbed my shoulder and pulled me to a halt, spinning me around to face him. "Lord Death said to stay away from anyone who might be a Phantom."

I shook my head. "I don't think AJ is a full-fledged Phantom. If his father is, then maybe he just inherited some of his traits..." I trailed off in contemplation. "And since when are you one to heed authority anyway?"

Soul rolled his eyes. "Just...wait, okay?" he pleaded. "We'll talk to him together, on Monday."

"Promise?"

After a moment's hesitation, that all-too-familiar shark-tooth grin spread across his face. "Promise."


	7. Chapter 7: You

**I feel totally BA cause i just maka-chopped my sister.(;**

**anywho, aside from that announcement, here we are with chapter 7.(:**

* * *

That Friday, Lord Death announced there would be a celebration party for his and Lady Death's re-engagement.

It was scheduled for two weeks from the date, even though there would be an after party at the wedding which would only be a month or so afterwards. This concept bewildered me, because if there was going to be a party at the wedding, why do you need a celebration party a month before? In my opinion, Lord Death just wanted an excuse to brag that his love life was going better than some of ours.

Like heck, it was.

The weeks went by and Soul was still as confusing as ever. He would hardly speak to me let alone look at me when we were around everyone else, however when it was just us two he acted the same flirty mischievous way he always had towards me. When I asked Maka she reported that their resonance levels were better than ever and everything seemed to be back to normal. This frustrated me terribly because of course I wanted Soul to be himself around everyone with me, but I didn't want to mess up his and Maka's partnership, which was something that had been important to him long before I came along.

Blair was no help either, acting all funny and giggly whenever Soul and I were in the same room together. This of course made for many awkward situations considering we all lived in the same apartment.

On the Monday before the party, I left Sid's class early to make it to room 23 right after the bell rang. Soul did not join me, he said he would be there later. Mifune said nothing to me either, just nodded to me and left. Feeling incredibly lonely and lost, I turned towards the children.

"Everyone sit in a circle on the floor," I told them. "I have something special in mind for today."

James and AJ especially were hesitant, but then AJ scurried to sit next to me, clutching onto my arm. James sat as far from him as possible.

"First I wanna ask you guys, are any of you going to the wedding celebration party next Friday?"

"Ooh, I am!" Ashen said, perking up. Crimson and Hana nodded in agreement.

"What about you, James?"

James nodded solemnly.

"AJ?"

After a nervous pause, AJ shook his head quickly.

"Why not?"

There was a long, painful silence, and AJ peeped out, "My father won't let me."

This caught my attention. "Your father...?" I breathed. AJ nodded.

"Hey Red, where's Mr. Soul?" Ashen piped up.

Her question caught me off guard. "Uh - he's on his way," I mumbled.

"What happened?" she asked, quieter this time. "Is something going on?"

I looked at her, shocked. "Not exactly, but...how can you tell?"

She looked smug. "I sort of have a thing for people's emotions. It's all in the body language and facial expressions."

I was about to say something when the door to the classroom opened and shut. Speak of the devil, in came Soul. He didn't look at me as he took a seat between Crimson and James. It was eerily silent, and I broke the silence by clearing my throat and saying, "Today we're gonna play a game."

Hana gasped. "I like games," she breathed, her eyes shining.

"Yes, well, this is a special game. It's called Mind Swap."

"Mind swap?" Hana suddenly looked worried. "But...I like my mind..."

I tried to look comforting, for her sake. "Don't worry, we're not swapping minds literally. I just want you to put yourself in the other person's shoes to see what their life is really like. You can start, Hana, swap minds with Crimson. Put yourselves in the other's shoes."

"So," Crimson said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Putting myself in Hana's mind. What do I see? Rainbows, ponies, butterflies...this is a dark place."

The other children laughed, and Hana gasped. "Oh yeah? Well putting myself in Crimson's mind, what do I see? Hmm, what's that? Looks like...fire on your head? Oh... that's just your hair." Crimson sweatdropped nervously, and Hana went on. "But wait...what are those? Looks like..." she gasped again. "Crimson! You wear whitey-tighties?"

The others roared with laughter as Crimson's face flushed to match his hair color. "Do not!" he cried, mortified.

"Alright you two," I said, chuckling. "Calm down. Who's next?"

James's hand shot into the air.

"Alright, James," I said, "Swap minds with AJ."

AJ stiffened, and one glance to my right told me he was terrified. "No," he said, his voice shaking. "I don't wanna."

I was about to tell James nevermind, but he went on with it anyway. "Inside the mind of Archie," he said almost mockingly. "What do I see? Well, first, I see lonliness."

"James, that's enough," I started, but he took no mind of me.

"Pity, and sorrow, and bad and evil thoughts," James went on, his words dripping with hostility.

"James, stop, I said that's -"

"And magic and spells and a witch for a stepmother, a father who's a -"

"That's enough," I snapped, sending him a glare worthy of demons. There was a long painful silence in which the only noise was AJ whimpering and trembling beside me. He was clutching onto my arm as if for dear life. I sighed wearily, and went on, "Who wants to go next?"

They glanced around as if expecting someone to volunteer, but no one did. Ashen spoke up. "I think you and Mr. Soul should Mind Swap," she said. Her hazel eyes glinted mischievously.

This seemed to catch Soul's attention. Impishly, his gaze went from Ashen to me, and he replied, "Sounds interesting, let's do it."

My eyes narrowed, scrutinizing him. _Why are you doing this?_

"Put yourself in the others' shoes," Ashen said. I could hear the wry smile in her voice.

"I see fire, of course," Soul said, that familiar playful tone returning that I hadn't heard in days. "And...is that... carrot-flavored baby food? At last, the truth has been revealed!"

I scoffed, and returned with, "Well, I see...nosebleeds? Whaaat? And, lots and lots of food. And... oh my, Soul. Plenty of naked women. Who knew you were such a pervert?"

"My mind looks _nothing_ like that," he bantered. "There's no nosebleeds and only half that amount of food and hardly any naked women. I'm only a_ little_ bit of a pervert."

"Then what is in your mind?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Visions of me becoming a death scythe," he said, as if it were obvious. "And then there's you."


	8. Chapter 8: No Idea

He said it so plainly I was convinced I hadn't heard him correctly, and he had simply said something different. But the children murmuring "aww" in unison told me differently. Soul just sat there, grinning at me smugly like some sort of idiot. Was this a technique of his to play with my mind? Or to get on the good side of the children?

Speechless, my gaze moved from him, to Ashen. "Good job, you two," she said, flashing a grin. "Class is dismissed."

"No, wait," I stuttered as the children stood up. "I dismiss class, not you -"

She shrugged. "It's all the same in the end." She winked to me, then turned to the others. "C'mon guys," she stood up and they followed her out.

"Wait," I said, remembering my sudden urgency to speak with AJ. "You can stay after, AJ, we need to have a chat."

Nervously, AJ stayed behind after the other children had left. I pulled myself onto the teachers desk, crossed my legs, leaned back on my hands propped up behind me, and said, "Your father won't allow you to go to the party?"

Innocently, AJ shook his head. His spiky green hair bounced.

"What's your father like?"

Soul made a startled noise. "Red, I don't think thats -"

"Strong," AJ said suddenly, taking both Soul and I by surprise. "Very strong, and smart. But..."

"But?" I asked, perking up.

"He's mean."

"He's...mean?" I echoed him, arching my eyebrows in curiosity.

AJ nodded solemnly. "He tells me the things he says and does are only what's best for me. But if it's not what I want I can't possibly see how it would be best for me. If anything he just wants what's best for him and Leena..."

I stiffened and leaned forward, wanting to get a better look at him. "Who's...who's Leena?"

"_Stepmother_," AJ said the word as if it were fire on his tongue.

"Stepmother?" _Ah, the witch. _"Tell me, AJ, how long has this stepmother of yours been around for?"

Soul shot me a look that said that wasn't the kind of question I should be asking, but AJ answered it anyway. It was starting to seem like nothing I asked could possibly offend him, and Soul was worrying over nothing.

"For as long as I can remember," AJ said loftily. "I know she's not my real mother though. That woman could never be my mom."

I nodded, showing him I understood. "I see. Haven't you ever wondered who your real mother is?" Earned me another glare from Soul.

"Lotsa times."

"Your father has never told you?"

Silence. I took that as a no.

"Your hair," I said, leaning forward even further. "Did you inherit that from your father or your mother?"

"My...hair?" AJ repeated, glancing curiously up at his bright green locks. A frown spread across his face. "Neither...I think. My father said people like us always have bizarre colored hair."

"People like who?" Soul asked quickly, suddenly interested. I shot him a sideways glance.

Shocked, AJ's eyebrows came together in a thin green line. It looked like he was thinking hard, trying to say something. After a moment he gave up. "I don't know," he admitted, shrugging. The gesture seemed innocent enough. After all, he was only a child. He only knew so much. "Anyway, his hair is green too. Only it's much, much darker." He said this as though he were trying to prove something.

I shrugged it off. "AJ, do you really want to go to that party?"

AJ nodded. His black eyes gleamed with hope.

"We'll smuggle you out then."

Beside me, Soul gasped. His hand tightened around my arm, but I ignored it, smiling at AJ. The boy looked dumbfounded.

"Smuggle me...out?"

"Yes, silly. The party starts Friday night at 6, so Soul and I will come by around 5:45 to pick you up."

Soul's grip on my arm tightened. "Soul and I?" he repeated through gritted teeth.

"Oh and we'll need your address," I added to AJ. He seemed to understand now, and quickly told me his address, which I wrote down on a scrap piece of paper after prying Soul's fingers off me. There was most likely going to be a bruise on my forearm now; after all I am a ginger, we bruise easy, like peaches. AJ bowed to us, thanked us politely, then quickly left, saying he didn't want to make his father worry. Soul seemed to take note of this as AJ was leaving the room. As soon as the door shut, Soul turned on me.

"What are you, crazy? We can't break into a Phantom's house and kidnap his son, do you have some sort of death wish? You can't just volunteer me for something like that without my permission! Someday you're gonna get us both killed!"

I stood, staring at him, wondering what kind of idiot... "Aren't you the one that came up with the idea to break into the academy that Lady Death instituted, that I was expelled from?"

Soul stiffened, as if he were just remembering it though it had only been a few weeks ago.

"Or was that a different Soul?"

He said nothing, but he wouldn't meet my gaze. I dropped the subject. "Besides, the poor kid just wants to have some fun for once in his life. Who is his father to keep him from that? We're not doing anything bad, it's not like we're actually kidnapping him. Just borrowing him for a few hours, that's all."

"Borrowing him?" Soul scoffed. "He's not a book, Red, he's a human being."

"I'm not so sure about that." I began to pick loose papers off the floor.

"What do you mean?" Soul grabbed my arm, forcing me too look at him. I pulled my arm out of his grasp, not wanting to have even more unnecessary bruises.

"Well," I explained, "Didn't you hear AJ when he was talking about his father's hair color? He said 'people like us' implying that he was the same as his father. Phantom."

Soul froze, narrowing his eyes at me. "So you're saying he's a Phantom but yet we're still breaking him out of his house and bringing him with us to a public gathering?" He brought a hand to his head and buried it in his mess of thick white hair, shaking his head. There was a smirk on his face. "You sure are a stubborn one, Red."

My smirk matched his. "Just because he might possibly be a Phantom doesn't mean he's any different from the rest of us. Yeah, I know I just contradicted myself but we don't even know what he can do. For all we know that attack on James the other day could have just been him using his soul wavelength, which anyone with a decent amount of power can do. Who knows if he even inherited any of his father's Phantom traits."

"You thought of all that just now?" He made his way to the door and placed his hand on the doorknob, hesitating before opening it. "You know Red, it might not look like it from first glance but there sure is a lot going on in that little ginger head of yours, isn't there?"

As he opened the door, I followed him out, chuckling to myself. "You have no idea."

* * *

**One of my friends made a like page for Black Star on facebook. I found this amusing.(;**

**Anywho, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been at my friends house. I doubt I have any readers anymore anyway. But I got this really cool idea from the author "DeathTheTeenageGirl" , she replies to each of her reviewers comments. So starting now I'm going to do the same thing.**

**violentyetawesome - yes cliffhanger! i love cliffhangers. even when i'm the reader, cause they just make the story that much more interesting.(;**

**Confetti108 - lol yeah, the kids had fun with that one didn't they?(; especially Ashen, she's a troublemaker. but a good matchmaker :P**

**The best part of the story is coming up soon. you guys will like it.(;**


	9. Chapter 9: Classy

The rest of the week passed by uneventfully, but I think for the most part things were back to normal between Soul and I. Maybe all our friendship needed was the excitement of another possible adventure. We were partners in crime, completing risky secret missions together was what we did best. As far as my training with Crona was concerned, Stein had been trying to find out whether we could discover new weapon techniques within me. So far, we had been unsuccessful. However, we did have a pretty good start on our soul collection by this time.

The closer Friday got, the more indecisive I became about what I should wear to the party. Finally, an hour before I was supposed to meet up with Soul, I decided to ask Maka last minute on what attire would be appropriate.

"Go with something casual yet classy," Maka said while ironing her best blouse. "Since it's not the actual wedding party I don't think you need to necessarily look dressy, but it still is a celebration so you probably should try to look nice. If you want I can help you find something."

"Er, no thanks Maka, I think I have something in mind. But thanks for asking." I nodded politely to her, and then made my way back to the room we shared. Unfortunately that last part was a complete lie; I had absolutely nothing in mind. In fact mostly everything in my closet was either old uniforms from the DWSA or clothes that I had bought on recent shopping trips with the girls, and honestly I didn't feel like any of them quite fit the occasion. Before long I found myself pacing, lost in thought. I barely noticed when the door creaked open and a certain sneaky kitty weaseled her way inside.

"Fashion trouble?" she purred, poised on my bed in human form. Shocked, I jumped, and she giggled. Annoyed, I rolled my eyes.

"What do you want, Blair?"

"I could help you," she offered ambigiously.

I laughed sarcastically. "I'm not sure that's neccessary -"

I stopped short at the sight of her hopping off the bed and sauntering towards my closet. She rummaged around in it for a little while, her body half buried in clothes and knick knacks. Soon she reappeared with a single article of clothing in her grasp - the lacy black top she had given me a few weeks before that I had forgotten about after throwing it in my closet without a second thought.

My face fell, motified. "Uh Blair, I'm not sure that's appropriate -"

"Silly redhead, you doubt my fashion skills? Here, take this." She handed it towards me, and I hesitated. "Just trust me, okay?" she reassured. Reluctantly I took the shirt and she turned back to the closet and pulled something else out - one of Maka's white, short-sleeved blouses. "I'm sure Maka dear wouldn't mind if you borowed this. She only has a gazillion."

I took the blouse and gazed at both of the shirts I now held in my hands, beginning to see how this could work out.

"Well?" Blair said, looking at me expectantly. "You going to try them on or what?"

Not giving a shit less whether Blair was there or not, I yanked off my tanktop and pulled on the blouse. After all, she was part cat, I'm sure she had seen this plenty of times. I turned to the lacy top and pulled it on afterwards, to find it was sleeveless and acted as a tube top that went over the blouse.

Blair purred in satisfaction. "You look sexy but dignified, exactly the look that you want."

"I want this look?"

"Mhmm. You're going with a date right? Soul? Well that's perfect -"

I interrupted her, waving my hand arond in protest. "Uh, no, Blair. Soul's not my date."

She tilted her head in curiousity. "Really? Well you're going there together, am I right?"

I scoffed. "So? We live together, we can go places together, can't we?"

"Maka lives here too, and she's not going with you," Blair pointed out matter-of-factly.

"That's beside the point," I huffed. "Soul and I are just friends and the only reason we're leaving together is because we have to pick up someone on the way there, sort of like a mission."

"A mission? On the night of a party?" She pursed her lips and shook her head. "You never get a break do you? You and Soul should get some time to relax, get to know each other." She purred and wrapped her arm around my shoulder seductively. "If you know what I mean."

"You pervy cat!" I cried, flinging her arm off my shoulder. I flung open the door and pointed to the hallway. "Out."

She giggled. "Don't be silly, you still need my help." She pulled something else out of my closet, and when she tossed it at me I realized what it was: a short, black miniskirt. "Viola, finished," she purred. "Now I could help you with your hair if you like? Do you still have that wig I gave you?"

"I can handle my hair," I groaned, pushing her out of the room. "Thanks though." I slammed the door behind her. Quickly, I pulled on the miniskirt, plugged in my hair curler and proceeded to do my makeup. When the curler was heated up I quickly rolled it through my strawberry locks for a finished look of wild curls. Then I pulled them up into a tight ponytail so they didn't get matted or tangled. I brushed my bangs down and curled them across my forehead, then slid on a pair of sparkly black flats, and I was finished.

Almost timidly, I knocked on Soul's door. I couldn't tell if it was just Blair's words getting to me but I couldn't shake the faint feeling of nerves in my gut.

"Come in," Soul called, his voice sounding muffled. I sucked in a breath and pushed open the door, stepping awkwardly inside. This was one of the very few times I had been in Soul's room yet it still surprised me how neat and organized it was for a boy's bedroom.

His back was facing me and he was hunched over, rummaging around in his desk drawers for something. "What are you looking for?" I asked, my voice coming out a little quieter than I had intended it to.

"A headband to match this shirt," he replied, flustered. When he turned towards me I noticed he was wearing white pants with a red polo. My hand flew to my mouth in a poor attempt to muffle my snicker.

His mouth turned down in a scowl. "I thought it looked nice..."

"Yeah, if you're going golfing," I teased, amused. Soul scoffed.

"So you're saying I look like a pansy? And what's wrong with golfing?"

"Nothing, it just doesn't fit the occasion." I pointed at the black polo that was laid out on the bed. "Wear that one instead."

"Okay, McBossypants." Without hesitation he tugged off the red shirt and I quickly averted my eyes before I caught myself staring. I had got enough of a glimpse to notice there was a long scar running diagonally down the length of his torso, starting at the left shoulder. I wondered to myself how that had gotten there.

"We match now," he pointed out once he had the black shirt on. "All part of your plan, isn't it, Red?" he asked playfully, smirking.

"Completely," I replied sarcastically, leaning against the wall with my arms crossed. "Weren't you looking for a headband?"

Wordlessly, he turned to his desk, grabbed his black headband, and pushed it down amidst his combed white hair. I frowned; it didn't look right. "No, no," I murmured, stepping towards him, tossing the headband aside. I ruffled his hair to give it that messy, spiky quality it usually possessed, then I reached around his neck and popped his shirt collar. I smoothed out his shirt, sighing and saying, "There, now you look classy, Soul."

"Well _mom_, if we're done here, can we go now?"

"Yeah, let's go," I agreed quickly. I started to turn away but he grabbed my arm and tugged me back towards him.

"You look classy too, Red." He tugged one of my curls. His voice was so quiet it was almost a whisper, and his expression was hard to read. He was playing it cool, as usual.

I felt the heat rise to my face. "It...it was all Blair."

* * *

**Mmm, hope you guys like that one.(;  
**

**Sooo, my internet got turned off. so i probably wont be updating very often. i'm using the hotspot on my moms phone right now and i dont know how often i will be able to use it. I'll still keep writing, dont get me wrong, just...updates. will be a problem.  
**

**ELECTRA13 - thank you! i'm glad you like it so much and PLEASE keep reviewing, the amount of reviews i got for this chapter absolutely excited me. :3  
**

**Person - all the redheads i know 1, can't tan, and 2, bruise easy, but who knows, maybe its just a stereotype. who am i to argue with a redhead themself? haha, well i hope none of my stereotypes offend you D: its not meant to, i actually love redheads and the things i say about them are meant to glorify them, not offend them. :P please keep reading.  
**

**Confetti108 - i agree, its just frustrating when i cant update when i want to and then i get all worried about losing my reviewers -_- i am SO glad youve stuck with me since the beginning though, thank you so much! and yeah, they get him there safely all right...(;  
lolol oh how i love writing ahead.  
**

**DR34DNOISE - thank you sosososo much for reviewing almost every other chapter! i love you. seriously. and kidnapping children is always fun. haaa, pay no mind to my creepiness. its normal.  
**


	10. Chapter 10: The Sneak Out

"I don't see why we can't use the motorcycle," I complained again as we made our way through the streets of Death City, each step we took leading us farther and farther into what I like to call the "boonies". The buildings became more spread out and trees took their places.

"Because, in case you haven't noticed, the engine makes a loud noise and that would be counterproductive considering this is a sneak out mission," Soul said matter-of-factly. I rolled my eyes.

"At least I wore flats instead of heels." I looked down at the ground. "Are we almost there?"

"Almost?" Soul snorted. "We're here."

Shocked, I pulled my head back up. My brow furrowed when I saw nothing in front of me but a sign that said the address AJ had told me earlier. I pulled the scrap of paper out of my pocket just to check - but nevertheless it was still the same.

"That can't be right," I murmured. Soul took a step towards the sign, gently placing his hand on top of it. As soon as his fingers came in contact with the wood, the ground beneath us began to tremor. "What did you do?" I cried, panicked.

Soul quickly snapped his hand back. "Nothing, I just touched it!"

All at once, the ground under our feet seemed to collapse and disappear, and we found ourselves falling. Moments later we came to a sudden stop and I felt a soft, cushiony surface beneath me.

"Who needs a front door?" I quipped, face down in the cottony landing.

"Get up, Red," Soul whispered urgently, tugging on my arm. "We've got to get going before someone finds us here."

Remembering our mission, I nodded and hopped up. "Where to now?" I asked myself, gazing around. There was surrounding darkness in all directions and the only things I could see clearly were Soul who was standing right in front of me, and the mattress on the ground we had landed on. I looked up to where we had fallen from and realized to my dismay that it was thick darkness in that direction as well. "Do all Phantoms live like this?" I inquired quietly, rubbing my temples. There came the sound of faint footsteps somewhere to our right, and Soul stiffened.

"I don't know but we don't have time to find out," he hissed, and suddenly my hand was in his and he was running blindly into the dark, yanking me along behind him.

"Where are we going?" I demanded. Giving me a steely glare out of the corner of his crimson eyes, Soul shushed me. I was about to say something in protest when he came to a sudden stop.

"There's a wall here," he whispered, reaching his hand out in front of him. "I wonder how long it goes on for." He began feeling his way down the wall to the left, then his hand swiped across something. "What's this?" He grasped it and it turned out to be a doorknob. He turned and looked towards me. "Well, what do you think? Should we risk it?"

The footsteps were still echoing behind us, and I stole a glance over my shoulder into the darkness. I looked back to Soul and our eyes met, and he nodded, understanding the exchanged glances. In one swift movement he flung the door open and we both tumbled inside.

I had to shield my eyes from the sudden blinding light that met us on the other side of the door. I heard a gasp and then child-sized arms went around me. "AJ?" I asked, pulling my hands away from my eyes. The green-haired boy looked absolutely overjoyed to see me. Soul on the other hand, didn't look quite as enthusiastic.

"Are you guys gonna take me to the party with you now?" AJ asked, wide-eyed. I laughed and patted him on top of his green head.

"Of course we are. Are you ready to go?"

He looked down, blushing. "I didn't really know what to wear."

I laughed, and glanced around. It looked like a normal, everyday bedroom - perhaps too normal. White walls, white sheets, white dresser. I moved towards the dresser and looked back at AJ, who nodded to me in approval. Upon opening one of his drawers I came to the conclusion that the boy had very few clothes. After doing some rummaging I pulled out a crisp, white button-down shirt. "How about this?" I asked, and he nodded wordlessly in reply. I tossed it towards him, and turned back to the drawers. I pulled out a pair of dark denim jeans and tossed those over my shoulder to him, as well as some socks. "Do you have a tie?" I asked, turning back towards him to see that he was now dressed and attempting to button his shirt correctly. I laughed and went over to help him.

"Yeah, but it's in my daddy's room," AJ replied somberly.

"Well you'll just have to go without, then." I stepped back and looked him up and down. "But you look adorable anyway." I ruffled his hair and he blushed again. Soul rolled his eyes.

"Will your pops know you left?" Soul asked, stepping towards us with his hands stuffed in his pockets. AJ shook his head.

"He's not even here right now. He went on a vacation with Leena. So the housekeeper is supposed to keep an eye on me, but he goes out to drink every night."

"That must have been who we heard," I murmured to Soul, who nodded.

"Anyway," AJ added, "The housekeeper leaves every night at six and doesn't come back until past midnight, so we should be good considering it's 5:55."

I opened my mouth to say something but Soul cut me off. "How'd you know that?" Soul asked suddenly, almost accusing.

"Know what?"

"The time." He grabbed both AJ's wrists and quickly drew back his sleeves. "You don't have a watch..."

AJ shrugged. "I just knew."

Momentarily, I caught the alarmed expression on Soul's face, before he stepped away from AJ and regained his composure. "We should get going then."

I turned to AJ, who was pulling on his sneakers. "Is there another way out of here, besides the way we came in?"

AJ nodded. "There's a rope latter in the closet." He appeared to be having trouble tying his laces, so I knelt down to help him.

"Soul, open the closet door," I called over my shoulder. A moment later I heard the shuffling of feet and the slide of a closet door. For some reason, now of all times my brain was having trouble puzzling together how to tie shoelaces. "Bunny ears," I told myself sternly, "Now wrap it around..."

Within seconds Soul appeared next to me. "It's not that hard to tie a damn kid's shoes," he grunted in annoyance. "I swear, you're worse than asparagus-head over here." He placed his hands on top of mine and walked me through the procedure, but my heart was pounding so loud in my ears I barely heard a thing he was saying. Meanwhile, AJ looked pretty appalled at being referred to as "asparagus-head."

"Now, let's blow this popsicle stand." Soul stood up swiftly and turned towards the ladder in the closet. "Come on, you big babies." AJ and I followed suit, although I have to admit AJ didn't look too thrilled about following a guy who had just called him an asparagus-head and a big baby within the same few minutes. I was used to it however, and slid the closet door shut behind us.

The closet was dark, and I felt Soul grasp my arm. "Ladies' first," he murmured, and I could practically hear the wry smile in his voice.

"But Soul -" I started to protest, "I don't even know what's up there."

"That's okay, I'll go first," AJ chirped. "I use this ladder to sneak out anyway."

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I watched AJ grab ahold of the ladder and hoist himself up. Once he was up a few rungs I felt Soul's hand on my back, gently pushing me forward. I whirled around to face him and found he was closer than I'd expected. Ignoring the fact that he was smirking at our closeness, I went on, "You know, I find your whole 'ladies first' thing incredibly rude and sexist."

"Why's that?"

"Well, it's implying that women get special treatment just because...because..."

"Because why, Red?"

I scrambled for an answer. "- Because they have boobs!"

Soul burst out laughing, and I was thankful for the darkness because I felt my face blushing to match the color of my hair.

"I'm serious!" I cried, embarrassed. "It's not fair to treat women differently just because of their 'hot bods'. I'll have you know that in the old days -"

"I was doing it to be chivalrous," Soul said matter-of-factly, stepping towards the ladder. "But if you'd rather me go first and leave you down here by yourself in the darkness, that's alright with me."

To be honest, I was a teeensy bit afraid of the dark. "On second thought, I think I'll take you up on that offer," I said as I slid past him and clutched the rope ladder in my hands. I heard him laughing but I ignored it and began climbing.

"I didn't think the word 'chivalry' was even in your vocabulary," I called down to Soul. I couldn't see his reaction but I could tell it was sarcastic.

When I had been climbing for about two minutes the ladder came to a stop, and there was a dark-colored sheet above my head. "What the..." I murmured, moving the sheet aside. Bright evening sunlight shone through, almost blinding me. I shielded my eyes and crawled out onto the fresh crisp grass. AJ was standing to my right, smiling nervously.

"You guys act like you've never snuck out before," he joked quietly. I laughed.

"Oh trust me, I have."

Following close behind, Soul pulled himself out of the hole and onto the ground. "You're a damn fast climber, Red," he said, close to breathless. "Are you part monkey?"

I rolled my eyes, pulling the sheet back into place over the hole. "No, Soul. Let's get going. After all, it's not a party without us."

* * *

**Meh, i dont like this chapter so much. but you guys can feel free to disagree.(;**

**bleach102 - hm, that's something you'll just have to find out.(;  
**

**Confetti108 - no i actually like golfing too, its fun whacking those golf balls, but you know how those funny old guys always dress weird when they go golfing :P but yeah, soul is always "cool", glad i amused you.(; and no, they get there safely, but its the party you have to worry about...shhhh, i've said too much already ;)  
**

**MourningMemories7 - I usually don't like OCs for ANY story, but for some reason this idea just spoke to me and I couldn't ignore it. Thank you so much for your encouraging words, I appreciate it, and you really reassured me because my biggest worry is the character relationships and how they interact. At some points I kind of feel like an intruder, creating a character that almost gets between Soul and Maka's close relationship, then I get all concerned that SoMa fans will throw a fit in their reviews (which I have unfortunately already experienced). Then I get all guilty, and this makes it a lot more difficult to construct the storyline in the direction I'm considering going, but it's nice to hear that someone thinks I'm doing a good job with it. Guess all the worrying pays off :) And as for Blair, I'm sorry about that, she's not really a main character after all so I don't really work much on her :P but from now on I'll try my hardest to keep her in character, thanks for the advice. :)  
**

**Person - thanks! i appreciate your feedback ((:  
**


	11. Chapter 11: First Dance

I had never been in the grand hall before, nor did I know what it was for or even that it was there. However, as Soul led AJ and I through the large, ornate double doors, I found myself absolutely astonished at its beauty. It was dark except dimly lit by the Christmas lights hung around the room—although you could hardly call it a room. It was what it was, a Grand Hall. There was a large platform with pillars and ribbons and curtains and a long banner stretched out from one pillar to the next that read "Congrats Death!" There was also a circular marble balcony to the right, then opposite that on the other side of the room was a long table covered with layer upon layers of food. Food that none other than the great Black Star was helping himself to plentifully. Shocker.

"Red!" I heard, and looked in the direction of the voice. Hana came running out of the crowd and threw her arms around my waist. "You're here! And you brought AJ!" She turned her face to grin at him, and he smiled nervously back, a blush spreading across his face.

"Where is everyone else?" I asked her, glancing around.

"Well," she started, taking a deep breath, "Crimson is over there," she pointed a finger to the food buffet where Crimson was stuffing his face alongside Black Star, "Ashen is flirting with some older boys over there," her finger moved to the other side of the room where Ashen was standing with - my eyes widened, horrified - Kid, Ox, and Harvar, "And James isn't here yet. Still hasn't made his 'big appearance'." She rolled her eyes, and looked to me and Soul. It looked like she was piecing something together in her head, then suddenly she grabbed AJ's wrist. "Come with me, AJ," she said, dragging him off. "I have to show you the...thingy..."

I shoved my shaking hands into my pockets so Soul couldn't tell how nervous I was. "Some party," he mumbled, slouching, obviously uninterested. I chewed my bottom lip.

"Not your scene, huh?"

He shook his head in reply.

Suddenly, Lord Death appeared on top of the platform at the front of the room, clearing his throat. Everyone quieted and he went on, "Thank you for coming to our celebration! Lady Death herself is here to celebrate with us tonight." Everyone followed his gaze to the corner where Lady Death was poised. Someone started clapping and everyone else joined in. Lord Death, obviously flattered, cleared his throat again and continued, "Well, have fun everyone! I know I will." He winked at us and I think I almost gagged. No offense to him or anything. "There is a band here tonight to keep things interesting," Lord Death added. The curtain behind him rose to reveal, not a classical strings-and-percussion band like you'd expect, but instead a real band, the whole guitar and drums deal. I guess Lord Death had meant it when he said "casual get together".

"Well, party on!" he mused, and stepped off the stage. The band started with a poppy, upbeat the song that spread sweaty optimism through the air, which made the peppy teenagers feel compelled to dance.

"That's a first for Lord Death," Soul said sarcastically.

"Tell me about it."

"Well, he is getting married," Soul added. "Again."

I laughed. "Yeah, he must be in that lovey-dovey stage still...oh my."

"I wonder how Kid feels about all this." There was a playful gleam in Soul's eye.

"Obviously he's still in shock," I said, holding back laughter as I pointed behind Soul. He whirled around and laughed as well when his eyes landed on a horrified, shattered Kid hiding his red, mortified face in his hands. Ashen was tugging on his arms saying something that she probably intended to be comforting, but knowing Ashen it probably wasn't working so well.

Soul turned back to me, amusement written all over his face. "Interesting party."

"Very," I agreed.

The song changed to a sappy, slow love song, and my heart leapt in my chest. Soul was the first to break the awkward silence though, and this momentarily stunned me.

"Wanna dance, Red?"

As much as I wanted to say something, my words caught in my throat and I could feel my face turning a color that matched my hair. Soul smirked and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me closer to him. My heart pounded a mile a minute, and I wrapped my arms around his neck. I had never danced with a boy before so he led.

"You know, Maka tried to get me to dance with her once," he said aimlessly, staring at an invisible spot over my shoulder. He chuckled and added, "I made her dance with her creepy dad instead."

"Well, it's obvious you've danced before...I mean, you're good at it." My blush deepened and I looked down at my shoes.

"Yeah," he said, monotone. "My whole family's kinda big on music. I play."

"Play what?"

"Everything. Piano's my best though. But no," he added quickly, before I could even open my mouth to reply, "I will not play for you. I try to avoid playing anything these days."

"Why's that?"

He shrugged. "I came to the DWMA to get away from music...why would I play now?"

He was kind of avoiding my question. I realized how little I really knew about him, even though I considered him my best friend at the academy. I wanted to ask him more about himself but I couldn't think of what else to ask.

"Is that the only reason you came to the DWMA?" I finally asked.

He furrowed his brow. "Yeah, pretty much. That and I discovered I was a weapon. Best thing that ever happened to me."

"Not in my case," I replied. "Weapon powers for me just meant I would have to start taking classes at the DWSA. By that time Lady Death had already taken me in."

"Really?" His mouth turned up in a smirk. "They came in that late?"

I shrugged. "Being traumatized as a child must have kept them in."

"It's a hard knock life."

Liz and Patty caught my eye when they walked by with mirrored grins. "You guys are such a cute couple," Liz sang, and Patty giggled with delight.

I stiffened. "Oh, we're not a..." I started, but they were already gone.

"Can't deny the people what they want," Soul said quietly, shaking his head. His smirk widened, and he leaned his face closer to mine. "Can we?"

I wanted to say something but no words came to mind. Suddenly, there was loud obnoxious laughter and a certain blue-haired ninja jumped between Soul and I, separating us.

"I'm the big star here, dance with me!" Black Star ordered, jerking a thumb at his chest. I stepped away, scrunching up my face in disinterest.

"Over my dead body," I deadpanned.

Black Star's expression turned sour. "I could arrange that!" he scoffed, cracking his knuckles.

"Back off, pal," Soul said light-heartedly, waving Black Star away. Black Star huffed and returned to the buffet table, mumbling curses under his breath.

Before I could thank Soul or even say anything at all, Ashen appeared, almost out of nowhere. "Having a good time, you two?" she asked, a playful smile on her face.

"We sure are," Soul said humorously, bending down to ruffle Ashen's hair. Her hand shot up and clutched his wrist as her hazel eyes glinted evilly.

"Don't. Touch. The. Hair," she spat. "It took me two hours to do and I don't think you want to see me angry."

I laughed nervously and pulled Soul away. "If it's anything like AJ angry then I think we would be better off without," I said under my breath. I looked back to see Ashen smiling and waving.

"These kids just keep getting weirder," Soul grumbled.

Suddenly, there was a loud popping noise from overhead, followed by sizzling. Then another, and another, and everyone looked around frantically to see what was going on. The Christmas lights hung about the room were exploding and going out one by one. Everyone suddenly panicked and began running towards the double doors. My legs wanted to bolt, but for some reason I felt myself glued to the spot I was standing at. I felt Soul grab me protectively around the waist. "Stay calm," he murmured in my ear, though I hardly processed it. Any noises other than the deafening beat of my heart were nearly a blur of the murmured background noise and screaming of frightened students.

My mind started swimming as an uneasy feeling settled in my stomach. I had no clue what was going on.

* * *

**How'd ya like that?(;**

**I am so so so so so sorry you guys, I haven't updated in forever! My internet was out and well after it got turned back on I just kinda...forgot o: But I'm not sure how much ammunition I have left for this story anyway, it might take a miracle to get me inspired again...**

**Meanwhile I have my focus on other possible fanfictions I could be starting. I hope you'll take the time to check them out, if I end up uploading them.**

**Thanks for your patience, guys! Love you all!**

**Person - well hope that entertained you, then.(;**

**MourningMemories7 - Yeah, OC's are cool as long as they're not mary sues o: I try my hardest to stay away from those. And I agree about the SoMa thing, on how they're too dumb to take their relationship to the next level. They need to have like couples therapy (black star being the therapist of course) in order to realize their feelings. OMG! New fanfiction idea! :D hahahaha. And I'm also glad you agree with me on the fact that mushy fanfictions make me wanna puke! its all so repetitive and unoriginal and...afjadklfjadklk. o: Although, this chapter was kind of mushy itself, but not the whole, lovey dovey mushy, you know? it was like...action mushy.(; the cool kind. hahaha, what am i saying? I'm too tired. Time to stop ranting. Thanks so much for your input, though! :D**

**bleach102 - whaaa? o:**

**Confetti108 - Well thank you! :D I am sorry i kept you waiting so long ): I had this whole long storyline planned out for what happens after this but I think I'm going to just end this as short and sweet as possible because I want to move on to other things, you know? I'm sorry for disappointing all you guys Dx but thank you so so so so so much for sticking with me all this time, it means so much!**

**Amber - Lol YES, i am a comedic genius, thank you for commenting on that xD I usually only reply to a review if its on the chapter I just uploaded, but yours was a special case, since youre such a special person(;**

**To all my readers, whether you review or not, I will try to get the rest of the chapters up as soon as possible, but I can't guarantee there will be regular updates. I'll try my best.**


	12. Chapter 12: The Phantom is Revealed

The Christmas lights continued exploding until finally we were bathed in pitch darkness. The doors slammed shut and I'm guessing over half of the people attending the party must have ran out by then because suddenly a loud voice boomed, "_No one else is going anywhere_," accompanied by a loud, mirthless, dark chuckle.

I felt a cold, shaking hand slip silently into mine. Judging by the small size and the trembling, it must have been AJ. I squeezed his hand comfortingly but he did not squeeze back.

"Where's Lord Death?" I whispered into his ear. When he replied, his voice was shaky, and so quiet I had to strain myself to hear it.

"He and Lady Death went to go find Professor Stein."

My mind raced. Why would Lord Death just leave a giant room full of students unguarded? There had to be a reasonable explanation, I mean I _knew_ Lord Death wasn't that stupid... He may seem clueless sometimes but he really knows a lot more than he lets on.

Then the platform at the front of the room burst into flames. The laughter got louder and the flames died down, replaced by smoke that swirled in a circle, resembling a fiery tornado. A dark figure stepped out of the tornado, and my eyes had adjusted to the darkness well enough by this time to see the figure was male, about six feet tall with short spiky hair. He laughed evilly again and it sent shivers down my spine.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" The man snapped his fingers and a light came out of his hand, bright enough to illuminate a space a few feet around it. Somehow he still managed to keep his face concealed in darkness. "A couple of kidnappers and a little boy who should be at home, in bed."

AJ backed closer to me, away from the man, who only stepped closer. The few people around watched with wide, frightened eyes.

"There's some little boys who should listen to their fathers. Rules are rules for a reason, you know. And if you break them...there might be consequences."

He stuck a finger under AJ's chin and lifted his face towards the light. From what I could see, AJ's dark eyes reflected more fear at that moment than I had even seen during situations with James, or anyone else for that matter. My first instinct was to beat the shit out of this man, but if he was truly AJ's father, then these were serious family matters, and I realized it was probably my best interest not to get involved. Well, any less involved than I already was.

Plus, if what Mifune had said about AJ's father was true, then...starting a fight with this "Phantom" was most likely biting off more than I could chew.

"But daddy -" AJ squeaked. His father froze.

"_But _daddy?" he repeated coldly. "What did I tell you about using the word _but_? If I say consequences...then there will be consequences!" Suddenly, he struck his hand across AJ's face. Hard. AJ cried out and collapsed to the ground, releasing his grip on my hand. I suddenly found that my palms were very sweaty.

"But I just -"

The Phantom yanked AJ up by his collar. "Do _NOT _talk back to me young man! SOUNDS LIKE SOMEONE NEEDS TO BE TAUGHT A LESSON!" He hurled AJ towards the wall, almost as if he were a rag doll. AJ crashed into one of the pillars which cracked down the middle, and for one heart-stopping moment I thought the marble pillar was going to collapse on top of him. Thankfully it stayed in one piece, and AJ pulled himself back up, though with great effort.

"Young man, you are GROUNDED for the rest of your LIFE!" AJ's father roared, advancing quickly to where AJ was pressed against the marble pillar, trembling. "I sealed off your little secret exit, and I'm sending you back home and you will STAY in that bedroom of yours FOREVER!"

"Daddy no - !" AJ intervened, but AJ's father brought his hands down hard on AJ's shoulders, and the boy disappeared. The image of his terrified face lingered in my brain.

Without hesitation, AJ's father turned back to the platform where he began pacing. He stroked his chin, murmuring something that I only caught bits and pieces of. "Kidnappers...nuisance...explosion...what to do with them?" He stopped short, then turned his gaze towards us slowly. In the dim light, his eyes flashed. They were the same black color as AJ's. Something seemed to be going on with him, but I wasn't sure what. Whatever it was, it gave me an eerie, uncomfortable feeling. Even with Soul's warmth so close, I still felt a chill run down my spine.

"Such an extraordinary girl, aren't you, Melody Louise Marshal?" _How the hell did he know my full name? _"That's quite a unique soul you've got there."

_He must be using soul perception._

"Oh, not just soul perception," he added, and I stiffened. My blood went cold. "Mind reading as well, and X-ray vision." His dark eyes flashed again and a horridly playful, sadistic smile spread across his lips. I suddenly felt like I was going to be sick.

"_You bastard_," Soul murmured through gritted teeth. His arms dropped from my waist and there was a sudden _whoosh _as he flew past me towards the platform. I wanted to scream, tell him to stop, but my breath caught in my throat and I momentarily panicked. I didn't know what he thought he was doing, charging at a _Phantom _like that without even thinking. Without a meister! What was he planning to do, fist fight him?

I was horrified when Soul confirmed my suspicions, and his angry fist went careening towards the Phantom's face. Surely the Phantom wasn't going to just stand there and take it?

And almost as if on cue, the Phantom's hand shot up at the last second to block Soul's attack. Soul's fist planted itself right in the palm of the Phantom's. His eyes widened, as if finally realizing what he had done. But the Phantom merely chuckled, visibly amused.

"Soul Eater Evans." The Phantom tilted his head thoughtfully, staring at Soul. I could tell from where I was that his grip was tight, but Soul didn't make any attempt to pull away or defend himself. He just stood there, taking it. "One star scythe, partner of Maka Albarn." After a painfully silent pause, the Phantom began chuckling again. "Tell me, Soul Eater. Won't your partner be jealous when she finds out you're in love with _that girl_?" He jabbed his finger in my direction.

Wait. _My direction?_

Soul let out a startled noise. "How did you -"

"How did I know?" The Phantom tapped the side of his head. "Mind reader," he sang playfully.

"You're sick," Soul growled. The Phantom's expression suddenly turned serious.

"Oh, I am?" I watched, frozen in fear as his grip on Soul's fist got tighter and tighter, until suddenly, a loud _crack _echoed through the room, and I was sure that the silence wasn't the only thing being broken. Soul cried out in pain and the Phantom dropped Soul's injured hand. He stepped towards Soul and grabbed him by the front of his shirt - the shirt that I had helped him pick out just hours before. "Let me hear you say that again, you damn albino freak."

Soul gritted his teeth and spat, "You're _sick_."

In one swift movement, the Phantom lifted Soul over his head and sent him flying. He crashed into the far wall so hard that the wall nearly tumbled around him and smoke filled the air. "Nice try, scythey boy," the Phantom murmured, shaking his head. When the smoke finally settled, my fears were replaced by a sinking sense of dread in my gut when my eyes landed on the unconcious and possibly dead Soul, lying on the floor, covered in debris. "Soul!" I shouted, wanting to bolt towards him but finding, unfortunately, that my legs were still paralyzed in fear. I felt tears well in my eyes, and before I could blink them back they went streaming down my face.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to find myself face to face with the horrifying Phantom.

* * *

**DUN DUN DUUUUUUN.**

**Sorry it took so long. bet you guys are all dying now.(;**

**Person - YEA, new review! :D lolol.**

**Confetti108 - Well actually, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with this story anymore, I know for sure I'm going to continue it but I'm debating on whether I should go the long way or the short way :P and there will be more and more time between updates, just letting you know. And yes, Ashen sure is a special one, I have fun writing her.(; and DANG, you're a good guesser.(; try and guess what happens next? Get it right & I'll give you cookies.(;**


	13. Chapter 13: The Phantom's Lesson

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to find myself face to face with the horrifying Phantom.

"Wipe away those tears, girlie," he cooed, taking my face in his hand and blotting my tears with his thumb. I stepped away, disgusted, turning my face out of his reach.

"You wish, old man," I deadpanned. This struck a chord with the Phantom, and he grabbed me by the shoulders, yanking me back towards him. Damn, his grip was tight.

"My, my, such pretty red hair you have, dear," he murmured in a creepy, sing-song tone, curling a strand of my hair around his finger. "It would be a shame if someone were to cut it all off."

Chop it all off? He wouldn't dare. "Try it," I spat.

The Phantom stopped and thought for a moment. "Nah, I'll save that for some other time." There was a metallic sound and suddenly his right hand transformed into a large, sharp knife. "That doesn't mean I can't cut something else instead..."

The cold serated edge of his knife was suddenly against my neck. "You have such smooth, beautiful skin," he whispered in my ear, as the knife moved from my neck down to my chest, where he placed the tip against my wildly thumping heart. "All the more better to slice." He then traced the tip of the knife down my left arm, leaving a ghost trail of blood. Gritting my teeth, I shrugged it off. It was just a scratch.

"Just a scratch, eh?" The Phantom echoed, chuckling. The knife reached the palm of my hand and he suddenly pressed harder and quicker, slicing a large gash across the inside of my palm. Blood began pouring out of it. I clenched my fist and ignored it, refusing to meet the Phantom's pressing gaze.

"Not enough pain for the tough girl, eh? Let's try a different technique." His fingertips grazed the inside of my right arm, and suddenly I felt something snap. A jagged, searing pain ran its way up and down my whole arm. He had broken it while barely even touching it...by magic.

Now I was scared. I used my left hand to rub away the tears on my face, but that only smeared blood on my cheeks. I probably looked like a mess, but at the moment I really didn't care. The Phantom stepped back to admire his work. "Well, well, well. I could give you a nasty scar to match your boyfriend's over there? One swift slice..." he said, moving his knife in a diagnol angle through the air. He hesitated, then lowered his knife as it transformed back into his hand.

"I see I got through to you. So this lesson is done for the day. Lucky you." I watched him closely as he stepped towards me and grabbed my face, pulling it roughly towards him. "Be grateful I didn't kill you," he murmured, then shoved me away with such force that I went flying, tumbling past the curtain and into a pillar. The curtain tumbled under my pressure, falling on top of me, and the thing was so huge that even if I had the energy I still couldn't find my way out. The pillar came crashing down quickly afterwards, just missing me by a fraction of an inch.

I was now seriously trapped. But that was the last of my worries, because that's when I blacked out.

oOoOo

Someone was calling my name.

Well, my nickname. "Red," they were saying. "Red, come on. Wake up!"

I saw bright green hair. Must be AJ. But something was off. He was taller, and his voice was deeper. There was a scar beneath his left eye...which wasn't black anymore, unlike the right eye. Instead, it was crystal white.

"Red!" he shouted, louder. He looked like he was slipping away. "Please wake up!"

I was shaking. No. Someone was shaking _me_... The darkness slowly disappeared, but I found my vision to be unbearably fuzzy.

"That's it, stay with me, Ginge." I realized it was Soul talking, and I was propped up awkwardly in his arms. His white hair was matted and stained with blood. He was clasping my sliced hand tightly, the concern written in his ruby eyes quickly changing to relief.

"How did you -" I started, but burst into a coughing fit. He placed his hand gently on my back and waited patiently until I was finished to explain.

"I came to right after the curtain fell on top of you," he said quietly. "Lord Death came charging in and the Phantom disappeared. There was a search party sent out for him and Sid is currently counting the students. Stein and Nygus should be here any second to take us to the infirmary. So just hang in there, Mel."

But I could already see my vision darkening again. "Soul," I murmured, "Come here."

"Hm? Why?"

"You don't question an injured redhead!" I snapped, but upon seeing his startled reaction I softened my tone. "I have a secret to tell you, Evans."

He moved one measly inch closer to me. Irritated, I grabbed him by the shirt collar and yanked his face towards mine. I leaned in and kissed him slowly on the cheek. When I pulled away, I was able to see his face blush to match the color of his eyes before I slipped back out of conciousness.

oOoOo

When I finally came to again, there was a large, bright light shining in my face. I brought my hand up to sheild my eyes -

"Hey!"

I jumped, shocked, and as my eyes adjusted to the light I saw Stein standing over me, annoyed, holding a long strand of unraveled bandages.

"You should probably wrap those up before you trip on them," I warned groggily, starting to rub my eyes. I found myself shocked to discover that one of my hands was in an arm-long cast and the other was eerily stitched up. My eyes moved up towards Stein, then towards the bandages he was holding in his hand, and I laughed nervously once I had pieced things together.

"I was trying to wrap them on you," he muttered, scowling so that his cigarette tipped down. He snatched my hand again and began re-bandaging it.

"Should you really be smoking while performing medical procedures on a teenager?"

His eyebrow twitched. "Keep your mouth shut Marshal, or I'll stitch it shut. And if you move again I won't hesitate to dissect you."

That shut me up quick.

He bandaged my hand so tight it was hard to move it. "It feels like my fingers are glued together," I quipped under my breath, bringing my hand to my face to inspect his bandaging job.

"That's the point. Now sit up so I can bandage your head."

"My head? W...why?"

"Feel it."

Gingerly, I brought my newly bandaged hand up to the back of my head, and gasped when my fingertips came in contact with a large, sore gash that had been stitched up as well. "When did that happen?" I murmured, tracing it gently with my stiff fingers.

"When you crashed into the pillar," Stein replied monotonously. "Move your hand."

I quickly withdrew my hand so he could begin his bandaging. He wrapped the gauze twice around my head - maybe three times - and as he did so I stared down at my hands. Something dawned on me.

"Professor Stein, I can't go in weapon form when my body's weak like this, and I can't write when both of my hands are disfunctional. How will I do classwork at all?"

"You have class off for the next two to three weeks, so your body can recover." Stein set his bandages aside and patted me on the head. "So you get to spend all that time chilling in the infirmarary. Have a blast."

I let out a long, exasperated sigh. "What about Soul?" I asked suddenly. "Is he..."

Stein tossed his cigarette to the ground and crushed it under his foot. "His hand's broken, obviously, but I haven't gotten around to treating it yet. It's really quite bad, shattered in a few different places. He might need surgery. I'm afraid he's out right now, but you can see him when I finish the procedure."

"Surgery?" My eyes widened. "B...but -"

"It will take more than just a cast to fix a break like his, Marshal." He stepped towards the curtain separating me from the other patients, and stopped to turn back towards me. "He won't be here as long as you, though. A week and a half at the most." With that, Stein disappeared behind the curtain, flinging it shut behind him. "G'night Melody."

"Night, Professor."

In the dim light, I stared down at my injured hands. Soul needed surgery...just for protecting me?

* * *

**Woooo! What a chapter. Now things will start to die down...but not for long, eh?(;**

**Confetti108 - Meh, i think it was just a rough patch because now I definitely want to continue it.(; sure it will take a lot longer and be a longer wait between updates but its worth it because i really do like writing this. thank you for sticking with me(: and yes, AJ's father is a very hate-worthy character...he is a phantom, after all. and oh, not quite but i'll give you a cookie anyway! :D**

**T.A.G. - HAHAHA, somepony xD I like you, you're funny. thanks for the amazing, long review that made me laugh! And yes lol i do like me those cliffies. **

**violentyetawesome - lol stupid loudmouth phantom, blabbing soul's secrets! :P i'm afraid "help" wouldnt do much for him though! thanks for the review(:**

**Person - lol yes, thats kind of why i named the story that, it's like the catch phrase of the story :D Mifune uses it in chapter 5 too when he's talking about AJ.**

**This chapter was definitely my favorite one to write so far! Thank you all for reading and reviewing, i will try to update as soon as possible but i'm currently juggling like four different stories o:**


	14. Chapter 14: Aftermath

That night, I dreamt about AJ again. He was older, like he was when I dreamt of him before. His back was turned to me and he was fighting someone. Swordfighting. But AJ himself was a sword, so how could he be…

He screamed, and the person he was battling was plunged into the surrounding darkness before I could recognize who it was. I watched, paralyzed, unable to do anything on account of merely being the dreamer. He turned his head towards me and whispered, "It's up to you now."

I felt something on my arm and quickly shot up in bed like a bullet. It was dark in the infirmary, the only light source being the moonlight peeking in through the cracks in the curtains. My face felt cold and drained of all color, and my fingers felt strange, like gravity was tugging on them. My bandaged and casted palms were sweaty and clammy.

Soul withdrew his hand from my arm, shocked at my frightened awakening. When I realized it was only him, the fear in my gut transformed into relief, then quickly changed to guilt as I remembered what I had caused him. He was standing at the side of my hospital bed, leaning over me as if he were concerned. His hand was bandaged like mine, only his arm was in a sling. I had a sling too, but I refused to put it on.

"Did you…surgery…?" I mumbled breathlessly, trying to regain myself after my shocking nightmare. My heart sank into my stomach.

"It didn't hurt," he answered nonchalantly, taking a seat on the bed next to me. "They put me under for it."

I tore my gaze away from his. "They didn't put me under."

"Well, you were already knocked out." My eyes flitted back to him momentarily to find, to my horror, he was amused. "Like a light."

_Oh, God._ "Was I sleeptalking?"

He shrugged playfully. "Only a little."

"Don't tell me. I don't wanna know what I said."

He said nothing, but I narrowed my eyes at him, wanting to punch that airheaded smirk right off his face.

"I dreamt about AJ," I blurted out, after a long silence. Soul's expression changed suddenly.

"Oh yeah? What about AJ?"

"Well he was older, almost older-looking than us, and he was swordfighting. And…I think he got stabbed."

"Stabbed?"

"Yeah…then he said it was 'up to me now'," I put air quotes around the last part with my fingers that weren't in a cast. It was difficult.

Soul bristled and turned his gaze away from me, shocked. "Oh." I watched as a somber expression passed over his face for a fraction of a second, then he turned back to me, grinning. "Do you think it was a vision from…the future?"

I would have facepalmed, if I had a free palm to face in. "Soul, you're an idiot sometimes."

He arched a white eyebrow at me. "I'm serious, Red. AJ could maybe, possibly be a Phantom. We know he can tell time without a clock. Who's to say he can't send you messages from the future?"

I looked down at my injured hands thoughtfully. "You might be right."

Soul grabbed my bandaged one with his free one. "So what's the plan, commander?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Soul laughed. "You know. How are we gonna save the day, make things right with AJ and his father? What's your plan?"

"Soul, you've got to be kidding me." I rolled my eyes. "I'm not some brave heroine who can jump up and save everybody from some great peril like in the movies. Your expectations for me are way too high."

He leaned closer to me. "Are they?"

I turned my face away, breaking his close gaze. "I think you need to get some sleep. We'll talk more about this in the morning."

"Fine." He stood up, dropping my hand on the bed next to me. "Goodnight, Red." He turned to leave.

"The plan's still under wraps," I said hastily. "I'll tell you tomorrow morning."

Before he walked out through the curtain, I heard him chuckle.

oOoOo

"It's a good thing your cast is so huge and ugly. Lots of people will sign it."

I needed to talk to Soul.

"How is it being ugly a good thing?" Hana asked, puzzled. She watched as Ashen proceeded to doodle hearts, stars, and "S & R" all over my cast. I was thankful now that the kids recognized me as Red instead of Melody, because I wasn't sure how i would have explained to everyone why my cast could have possibly said S & M all over the place. Awkward situation avoided thanks to Soul's idiocy.

"So that people like me can make it pretty," Ashen answered matter-of-factly, snatching the pink sharpie out of Hana's hands. "Duh."

I frowned, trying to tune out their childishness. I needed to talk to Soul.

Crimson and James slipped into my infirimary room, shrugging past the curtain. "Finally!" Ashen gushed, dashing towards them. "'Bout time you two got here!" She whipped out two sharpies and held them out to the boys. "Sign, now."

The boys approached me and I held out my casted arm towards them, almost as if it were routine. Crimson uncapped the red sharpie and James uncapped the blue - I thought of how incredibly cliche it was that they each had sort of like their own signature colors. Crimson was red, and James was blue, of course, Hana was pink, Ashen was brown, and AJ was green. Only, AJ hadn't signed my cast yet. And I didn't expect he ever would, unless this plan that Soul expected me to come up with somehow ended up working out.

That reminded me that I _still _hadn't figured out this ominous _plan_, since it was sort of Soul's job anyway to figure these things out, like he had with our last adventure back to the DWSA. I had no clue why he expected so much of me this time around, and the pressure and expectation forced on me absolutely stumped me to the point where no plan whatsoever had even come to mind yet. I was at a loss for any ideas, and desperate for Soul's help. However, he hadn't come to visit me that morning yet, and I was suspicious that he might have still been asleep. But I couldn't get up to go see him myself on account of me being so high in demand for visitors.

Crimson and James finished signing my cast and backed up, handing their sharpies back to Ashen, who was smiling almost smugly. "Aren't you so glad we all came to visit you, Red? It just shows how much we love you!"

"Yeah," I grumbled under my breath. "Ashen, can you do me a favor?"

Ashen nodded feverishly.

"Would you take Crimson and Hana with you, and go look for Maka? I need some things from the apartment."

"Sure, no problem!" Ashen chirped. "But...what about James?"

"He can stay. I need to have a chat with him."

Ashen nodded, a little doubtfully this time, but hooked her arm around Hana's anyway and led the way out. Crimson followed close behind.

James, seemingly uninterested in whatever matters were so pressing to me, leaned against the wall with his arms crossed casually across his chest. "A little chat?"

I nodded once. Turning solemn, I clutched my sheets in my injured fists. "Are you aware of all the events that occurred at last nights celebration?"

"No."

"Give me the short version of what you do know, then."

James sighed, obviously irritated. "Some catastrophe where a pillar collapsed and nearly killed you and Soul?"

I laughed. "Is that what they're telling people?"

"No. That was my guess. They're trying to keep it quiet."

"You wanna know what really happened then?"

He nodded silently.

"AJ's father," - James stiffened - "Made a special appearance."

* * *

**I got so many reviews on the last chapter! :D thank you all so much!**

**bleach102 - lol maaaybe possiblyy.(;**

**The Alchemy Goddess - Haha, yes, I agree! Thank you for your feedback. :D**

**Confetti108 - Dun dun dun indeed xD And yeah something like that! Lol thanks for your always awesome reviews :P**

**Makabaki-Soulstar - Aww, thanks so much!(: And yes, that would be cool indeed wouldn't it? We'll see.(; Thank you, please continue reading and reviewing!**

**DR34DNOISE - Woo, you reviewed like four different times O: thank you! Well, as for the musy/lovey-dovey, I try to keep that at a minimum. I've actually been holding off on the romance for a while, ahaha. but thanks for your opinion! and YES, AJ's father is deserving of a beatdown. of which he may or may not recieve.(; i'm still planning that far...lolol spoilersss!**


	15. Chapter 15: A Fool

James totally flipped.

His reaction stunned me. This usually cool, confident boy—pretty much exploded. "What the hell happened? When? Why wasn't I there? Why didn't someone tell me sooner?" he demanded, rushing to my bedside and tugging on the railings of the hospital bed. I was shocked speechless, and he cried, "Answer me, dammit!"

"Shut the hell up," I hissed, regaining my composure and slapping my bandaged hand over his mouth. I was sure someone outside my measly curtain had heard his outburst and was going to come running in at any moment.

He tugged my hand away from his face, and I noticed his cheeks were beet red. I had never seen him this worked up. "This is important, carrot top. I need answers."

Carrot top. I hadn't been called that in a while. Recovering from my momentary shock, I gave James the short version of everything that had happened the night before. He listened with determined eyes, and the more he heard, the tighter his grip got on the bed's rails. He was gripping it so tight his knuckles turned white.

"Dammit," he murmured again when I had finished. For a ten year old, he sure had a potty mouth. "If I had been there..." He released his grip on the rails and turned swiftly, clenching his fist and blasting the wall. For a ten year old, he also packed a good punch.

"No offense, James, but I think it's a good thing you weren't there."

He whipped his head around, his mouth forming a malicious snarl. "Why? Why would you say that?"

"Well," I shrugged, "You would have done something impulsive and stupid. Like Soul did."

"You've got to be kidding me! You honestly think I'm as tactless and idiotic as that damn albino?" Lashing out in anger, he reached out and grabbed me by the collar of my hospital gown, yanking my face up close to his. His dark blue eyes were cold, almost frigid. "What a joke!"

"Hey!" I shouted, half surprise, the other half anger. "Watch what you say about Soul! He was only protecting me, after all." I wrapped my fingers around his, trying to pry them off of my collar. It was no use, his grip was solid as steel.

"Seriously, he really is a moron!" James spat. "Why risk your life for a girl? Especially one as dense as you!"

I brought my hand across his face, striking his cheek with my palm. He made a startled noise, but kept his head down, and didn't move for one long moment after I slapped him. His blonde hair fell in front of his face and shrouded his expression. His grip on my collar loosened, but he didn't lower his hands. "Wh...why did you do that?" he asked quietly.

"Because you pissed me off."

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT LAST NIGHT WAS A DISASTER!" he shouted. He tightened his grip on my shirt collar again and shook me back and forth like a rag doll. "YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE SNUCK AJ OUT, YOU _DUMBASS_! I _TOLD_ YOU THAT KID WAS TROUBLE!"

"IT'S NOT HIM, IT'S HIS FATHER!" I reproached, swiping at his fists that were enclosed on my shirt to get him to stop shaking me. It felt like my brain was rattling around inside my head.

"IGNORANT!" he spat. "STUPID! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING, _ANYTHING_!"

I stopped struggling against him when I caught sight of his eyes. They had changed. They were no longer a cold, metallic silver. Instead, they were clear crystal blue, though, still angry, but more desperate than anything. I sensed that he was about to cry.

He went on shouting desperately. "STUPID GIRL, YOU'RE GOING TO GET US ALL _KILLED_!"

"JAMES!" a third voice hollered. A voice that was familiar.

Ashen quickly approached us and pried a shocked James away from me. I caught my breath and watched, completely bewildered and alienated, as he collapsed into her arms and sobbed. "She - she -" he stuttered between choked sobs.

"Shh," Ashen whispered, quieting him. She rubbed his back comfortingly as he sobbed into her shoulder. "I know, James. I know. It's gonna be okay."

oOoOo

"We couldn't find Maka," Hana informed me after Ashen dragged a somber James out. Ashen had apologized to me multiple times - for what, I had yet to discover. "We looked everywhere. I'm sorry, Red."

I was at a loss for any complete thoughts. "Thanks," I finally managed to choke out. There was an awkward pause.

"You alright?" Crimson asked. His blue eyes were critical, as though searching me for anything that would let on to what I was thinking.

"I'm fine." I tightened my grip on my blanket, then loosened it again, deep in thought.

"Are you sure?"

Instead of answering him, I threw off my bedsheets and stepped out of the hospital bed that had been confining me like a prison for the past twelve hours. _Screw _waiting for Soul to come and talk to me. I was an independent girl, I could take things into my own hands. My bare feet smacked against the linoleum floor as I advanced across the room towards the curtain.

"Red, w-where are you going?" Hana asked warily, as she and Crimson began following after me. I turned around on my heel and shushed them.

"Don't come after me," I hissed. Seeing their bewildered and slightly hurt faces staring back at me sent a pang of guilt down my spine, and I awkwardly patted Crimson on his ginger head, intending it to be a comforting gesture. I quickly embraced Hana, then turned away from them, quickly yanking the curtain shut in their still-shocked faces.

All by my lonesome, I quickly made my way down the row of curtains. I wasn't sure where Soul was so it looked like I was going to have to take a wild guess. Unless...

Yes, that was it. Soul's voice. I retraced my steps and went to open his curtain, but stopped short when I heard a second voice. Maka's...?

_That's why the kids couldn't find her._

"What are we going to do, Soul?" Maka sniffled. "I'm supposed to make you into a Death Scythe, and we're almost there! But now..."

"But now we have to put everything on pause until my hand's healed," Soul answered for her. I could hear the comforting tone in his voice. Maka was crying.

"Yeah," she said, and sniffled again.

_I shouldn't be eavesdropping,_ I told myself, feeling the guilt settle in my gut again. But I couldn't pry myself away.

"Why, Soul?" she murmured.

"Because I'm stupid, Maka. You'd be much better off with a different partner. I do stupid stuff like this too much - I'm holding you back."

"_Shut up_, Soul!" Another sniffle. "Don't say that. We've been through so much together."

There was silence.

"Maka, I -"

I couldn't stand to listen anymore. I bolted, tearing my feet away from the spot they had been glued, and ran blindly. I stopped at the dispensary door, nearly running into it, wrenched it open, and bounded out. My bare feet flew through the empty halls of the DWMA, and tears welled in my eyes. A million thoughts ran through my head.

_James is right. It's all my fault. I should never have come to the DWMA. Everyone is hurt all because of me. Soul, AJ, Maka, Crona, James...I'm a fool. How could I actually think they were my friends? I'm Melody. I'm supposed to be alone._

My distracting thoughts kept me from paying attention to where I was going, and in my haste, my body slammed into something that was solid and hard. My feet slid from beneath me, and dispite my flailing arms, I landed hard on my butt. I must have hit my head pretty hard too, because stars flew in front of my eyes. I blinked as my temporarily blurry vision returned to normal, and Black Star's wide-eyed face stared down at me.

* * *

**I'm sorry to everyone for such a long wait! I'm currently in a losing battle with writers block. -_-**

**Anywho, things should get interesting from here.(;**

**Confetti108 - AJ battling his father? GASP, how did you guess? o: And Ashen making costumes? Hahaha, oh my, that would be hilarious! How do you know my characters better than I do?(;**

**MiniKirio - YES MUFFINS AHHHH~ Intense? You've chosen the right word, my dear. :D**

**Person - Ah thank you, thanks for reviewing!**

**DR34DNOISE - Ah, well my dear, I believe that was the point(; Thank you, please continue reading!**

**Harvey the Wonder Hamster - Bum bum bum indeed! :D Thank you, please stick around!**

**Marysa Way - :D I'M TRYING! Like i said, writers block D; but thank you, thank you!**

**Makabaki-Soulstar - Hahaha, oh dear xD #somareaderprobz. I do that too sometimes lol. Thank you for your hilarious review, please keep reading! (:**


	16. Chapter 16: Black Star?

I blinked as my blurry vision returned to normal, and Black Star's wide-eyed face stared down at me. I mentally groaned. I wasn't exactly in the mood for his crap at the moment.

"Carrot top?" he said loudly. I could tell he intended it to be a question, but it sounded more like an exclamation.

I struggled to push myself up to a sitting position, and he held out his hand to help. Hesitantly, I placed my hand in his. A small, shocked gasp escaped my lips as he lifted me to my feet in one effortless pull.

"Thanks," I breathed. My hand flew to my throbbing head, and my knees buckled, threatening to collapse again. Black Star laughed loudly and threw his arm around my shoulders. I could only hope this was a gesture meant to support me.

"Where you off to in such a hurry?" he asked playfully, giving me a well-meant but rough noogie. I swatted his hand away and smoothed down my now staticy ginger hair.

"Home."

Black Star looked closer at me and his smile faded. "You alright? You haven't been crying...have you?"

I turned my face away and scoffed. "Fuck you. Me, crying? Yeah, right." I quickly swiped any stray tears away with my forearm. "I don't cry."

Black Star looked dumfounded for a moment, then he startled me by laughing. "Good, I was worried I was going to have to beat someone's ass!"

"I'm concerned you even suspected me of doing such a thing, Black Star," I said, feigning offense. Black Star laughed again and shoved me playfully - at least, I hope it was meant to be playful. It was kind of rough. I had to stop to catch my breath.

"Carrot top over here thinks she's a tough girl, eh?" Black Star marched on ahead of me, turning back to flash me a wide, misfit grin. "Well, what are you waiting for? You were running home, right? Hurry up or I'll leave you behind!"

I regained my composure and stood for a moment, frozen, watching him laugh and go on ahead. A small smile formed on my face.

I picked up my feet and jogged after him.

The walk home left me thinking. Thinking of what the hell I was supposed to do, now that I could no longer stand to be near my so called "parner in crime"._ Think of a plan_, he had told me, _A plan to save the day, a plan for both of us to be heroes_.

Well, who needs you, Soul. Who needs a sidekick?

I was going to save the day, I was going to be the hero. No more hiding behind Soul, having him protect me. I was going to do things all by myself, so no one else got hurt in the proccess.

_I_ was going to fix what_ I_ had screwed up, because James was right. It was all _my_ fault.

I unlocked the door to the apartment and Black Star followed me inside without invitation. _What a gentleman,_ I thought sarcastically. I made him stay in the living room while I got changed - it was nice to finally get out of that damn hospital gown.

I started to pack a suitcase and Black Star appeared in the doorway to my bedroom, leaned against the wall with his arms folded behind his head.

"So, where are you going with all this stuff? What about school?"

"I'm excused for the next few weeks 'cause of my injuries," I grunted, struggling to zip my suitcase. I attempted to smush my stuff down by sitting on top of the suitcase, so I could zip it. As I was bouncing up and down on the suitcase with my butt, Black Star reached over and zipped it up in one try. Frustrated, I threw myself back on my bed. Black Star laughed, obviously amused.

"Look, I get it. You don't have to tell me where you're going."

I sat up and nodded to Black Star, thanking him.

"But...does Soul at least know?"

Wordlessly, I paled.

"I'm just asking, 'cause I know when you go missing he's gonna come whining to me," Black Star sighed flamboyantly, waving his hand in my direction. "I really don't care what you do, I mean, your life, your decison. It's just that, when Soul's not happy, I'm not happy." He stopped to think. "What am I saying?" He cackled obnoxiously, standing up and shooting a fist into the air. "When Soul's not happy, it's hilarious!"

"I can see being the 'supportive best friend' isn't easy for you," I deadpanned under my breath.

"Anyway, are we done here, carrot top?" Black Star asked loudly, looking at me expectantly with his hands on his hips. I nodded, stood up, and tugged on the handle of my bag. It didn't move an inch. Black Star swatted me away, grabbed my 500 ton bag, and threw it over his shoulder like it was no problem. Then he led the way out of the apartment, looking so full of himself he was almost marching.

He looked sideways at me. "Where you off to?"

I hesitated to answer him, almost running in order to keep up with his fast strides down the sidewalks of Death City.

"Hey, it's not like I'm going to try and stop you, or anything. I just want to make sure you get there safely. I'll drop you off and then leave, pronto."

"And if Soul asks?"

"Not a word, I promise." He beamed innocently at me, and I decided to trust him.

"Alright. Turn up ahead."

"Into the woods? YAHOOO!" Black Star bounded up ahead, looking very much like an oversized child who had just been given a lollipop. I was glad he was the last of my friends from the Academy I would have contact with before leaving, his positive energy kept me from doubting myself and the choice I had made. Plus, if I even tried to go back, I knew he would make me go through with it anyway.

"What _is _going on with you and Soul, carrot top?" Black Star asked after we were well into the woods, and he had finally calmed down. "I mean, just last night you were all 'dancey-dancey lovey-lovey'," he clapsed his hands near his face and his eyes went all googly, in an imitation of me and Soul. "Then you were all 'omgsoulyou'realiveiloveyousomuch'," he pretended to make out with an invisible person, then stopped suddenly and gave me a serious look. "And now...?"

I was still trying to stifle my laughter from his ridiculous facial expressions during his teasing. "And now..." I trailed off, not quite knowing how to continue.

"And now you're running away from him."

I was silent. I swallowed nervously, not wanting him to question me further.

Suddenly, Black Star stopped. "The path stops here," he observed, "You gonna be fine on your own?"

"Yeah, thanks," I said, grabbing my suitcase from him.

"No problem, gingy," Black Star cracked a grin and hooked his elbow around my neck, giving me another rough noogie. I swatted him away, this time smiling.

"Well," I cleared my throat, feeling awkward. "See ya." I turned and started walking away.

"Hey, Marshal," Black Star called after me. "You ever comin' back?"

Instead of answering him, I took one last glance over my shoulder. That was the first time he'd ever called me by my name.

Black Star, all obnoxiousness aside, I guess you're not so bad after all.

I took a few steps, dragging my 500 ton suitcase along behind me. Then I heard something that made my blood run cold.

"Wait!"

I stopped in my tracks. Slowly, I turned around. There, running down the path, past a shocked Black Star, was Crona.

"Crona, what are you -" I started

"I'm coming with you," he said, stopping in front of me, keeled over catching his breath. I tried to protest but he cut me off again. He stuttered as he spoke, and his eyes danced from the ground up to me then to the ground again. "I'm your meister, Melody. You might have ditched me last time, but you're not ditching me again. I will not let myself be walked all over by you!" He finished loudly, clenching his fists and flinging them up and down. It was quite a comical sight.

I was shocked speechless. His face was red, though because of exhaustion or frustration, I couldn't tell which. His pink hair was all a mess and the bottom of his long black robe was all dirty. I knelt down and brushed it off for him. He was obviously determined, and there was no getting rid of him.

I stood up quickly. "Alright." I nodded to him, grabbed my suitcase, and turned, dragging it along behind me. "Come on, then. Let's go."

Crona was shocked at first, but quickly regained himself. He smiled lopsidedly as he skipped up to pace with me.

"Well...here it is."

"Here what is?" Crona looked at me, furrowing his pink eyebrows together in a puzzled gesture. Shrugging his question off, I approached the wooden sign sticking out of the ground, all by itself in the middle of a clearing in the woods.

Back here again. It had only been since yesterday, but it felt like ages already. I reached my hand out, but hesitated. Was I really ready for this?

I pulled my hand back and brought it up next to my face, deep in thought. The gauze was wrapped very tightly around my hand. I grabbed it suddenly and began unraveling it.

"Um, Melody," Crona started, his voice shaking, "Wh-what are we -"

"Shh, Crona." I finished unraveling my hand and stared at it, and the zig-zag stitches running horizontally across my palm. Stein has a very creepy way of doing stitches, I might add.

I huffed, clenching my fist and pulling it away from my face. I couldn't stand to look at that any longer. I grabbed the gauze that had fallen on the ground and stuffed it in an outside pocket on my suitcase. Then I grabbed the suitcase by the handle, convinced myself there was no going back, and smacked my other hand down on the sign.

"Brace yourself," I called over my shoulder to Crona.

And then the ground collapsed underneath us.

* * *

**Okay so I should probably explain this.**

**I kind of went in a Black Star x Melody shipping direction there which is weird because i have never liked Black Star that much, but who knows, tastes change, and for some reason I am now finding myself attracted to Black Star...maybe it was because of this AMV i watched...and trust me, I know that 95% of AMVs suck, and HELL finding one for Black Star x Maka is like finding a needle in a haystack, but omg it was SOO GOOD and i think it made me fall in love with Black Star.**

**HOWEVER, if you are a Black Star fan, I am sad to say I will unfortunately not be going in that direction with this story. Though Black Star is my new favorite, I still share my love for Soul, and I just think it would be weird to have Melody go from Soul to Black Star, I mean they're best friends and frankly I already have this all planned out and shipping Melody with Black Star would honestly fit in absolutely nowhere.**

**Nonetheless, if any of you really feel I should conjure up a little something with Melody and Black Star, I could possibly make it fit.(; Just remember that SoMel is my OTP. But hey, a little friendly competetion never hurt anyone, right?(;**

**But for now its just alll friendly. Friendship is the best, isn't it?(;**

**Confetti108 - Lol yes I love your enthusiasm :D I put a lot of effort into that chapter actually, and this one too! Things are starting to heat up. You thought the climax was past? The climax is yet to come.(; And yes indeed, your hunch about Black Star was correct.(;**

**Marysa Way - a; Oh you will soon.(; b; You will just have to wait. mwahaha! c; Aw shucks, nonsense! I bet you are a great writer.(: Personally I don't think I'm all that great...but, practice! It does a lot! I've been writing since I learned to read. Just practice, you'll get there!**

**Person - Thank you! And oh that's alright, I probably won't update much for that time. Things are kind of slow-paced right now (:**

**STFUXDDDD - GAAAH THANK YOU! :3 Woot cookie. You're awesome, my dear friend. Thank you so much, please continue reading~! *sends hearts***


	17. Chapter 17: Into the Lion's Den

"Kurokasai. It looks like we have an intruder."

The Phantom straightened, narrowing his eyes at an invisible spot in front of him. "It appears so." He pushed his chair out and stood up loftily, beginning to pace about the dark, damp room. His low voice bounced and echoed off the cement walls. "I wonder who it could be. The witches' council still thinks we're out, right?"

Leena nodded silently, wondering what in the world he could be up to. After all, the Phantom Kurokasai was a man of many secrets, dark secrets that not even his own wife knew of.

"The guild thinks so, as well. So who else could it be?" Kurokasai slowed to a stop, bumping his fist down on his palm and proclaiming, "It's a student!"

Leena almost jumped, shocked at his sudden outburst. Although, being a witch, she herself could have forseen who the visitor was. "A student?" She was confused as to why a student would be showing up at their home, for she knew nothing of the previous night's events. "One of those nasty children from the academy that your son hangs around with?"

"'Fraid so," Kurokasai confirmed, concluding the information from his soul perception. "Two, actually. A weapon and a meister." His frown turned upward into a small, sadistic smile. "Familiar weapon…" he murmured under his breath, so that the witch couldn't hear.

"Well…what are we going to do?" Leena was desperate to know what the Phantom's plan was – she wanted to see what her husband would do to the pathetic little brats from the academy that had the nerve to come barging into their well-hidden home. Just thinking of it made her squirm with pleasure.

"My dear wife, we are going to greet them, of course," Kurokasai purred, waltzing towards the woman. "What kind of hosts would we be if we didn't?"

"Hosts?" she repeated disdainfully, scrunching her nose at her mischevious husband. "I don't know if I like where this is going."

oOoOo

"For the millionth time, will you please tell me why we're here?" Crona hissed, hurrying along behind me. He kept flicking his eyes back and forth, as if he expected something to jump out of the darkness at him at any moment. Honestly, I didn't blame him. This place had been a lot less creepy when I was with Soul. Or perhaps it was because I hadn't yet met the Phantom...

"Fixing my mistakes," I whispered in Crona's direction. "You didn't _have _to come, Crona."

"Then why'd you let me?" he whined. His cheeks were tinted pink and I could tell he was terrified.

"There was no telling you no," I said matter-of-factly. He whimpered in response.

I stumbled my way through the darkness, trying desperately to find something, anything to hold onto. The darkness seemed never-ending, and this time I didn't have Soul with me to help me find any room - even AJ's would do now.

Soul...for some reason my mind kept drifting back to him. What was he doing right now? Was he still talking to Maka? Or was he sleeping? Or had he discovered my absence, and was wondering where I had gone? Maybe he had began questioning everyone. Would Black Star keep his promise?

I tripped over my own feet and almost tumbled, catching myself at the last second. This was enough to bring me out of my own thoughts. This was hopeless, we were getting nowhere.

I shivered, though if it was from the cold or the current situation was a mystery. "Why do bad guys always live in such creepy places?" I murmured. Suddenly there was a cold breeze, as if the underground lair itself was responding to my comment.

A low, sarastic voice chuckled from behind me. "So I'm the bad guy now, eh?"

My palms were suddenly cold and sweaty at the same time, and my mouth suddenly got very dry. I turned slightly, and out of the corner of my eye I saw the thing I was fearing most, but was expecting.

The Phantom stood, smirking at me. This was my second time meeting him but I still hadn't been able to see him in good light, but from what I could see his eyes were dark like AJ's - and they glinted through the darkness, piercing me like a dart. My stomach twisted into a knot.

"Melody? Is he a...friend of yours?" Crona stuttered out, each word shaking.

"Something like that," I grunted, turning fully to face the Phantom, one hand on my hip in a gesture that told him I could care less who he was or how bad he had fucked me up. Which, may I remind you, was pretty damn bad.

"Now now, dear sweet Melody, don't be so vicious," The Phantom cooed, taking a step towards me. Instinctively, I took a step backwards, backing into Crona. He made a frightened whimper. "I would be honored if you were to view me as your friend."

"Kurokasai, stop teasing the poor girl and get on with things already." A seductive, feminine chuckle followed this statement.

_Kurokasai? _Shocked, I peered over the Phantom's shoulder to see a tall, busty woman whose eyes glinted at me through the darkness. I nearly shivered. _This woman must be Leena, the stepmother and witch. Not to mention, who knew the Phantom had a name? _"It's not good to play with your food."

I jumped as the both of them burst into laughter. Personally I didn't find it very funny, and neither did Crona, who I felt trembling as he snuggled into my back.

"She didn't mean it, dear little friends," Kurokasai admitted. "In fact, to apologize for my horrendous actions last night, I wanted to invite you to dinner. It is quite the extraordinary feast."

He was looking at me almost as if I were his prey. I shrugged it off, arching an eyebrow at him. I couldn't tell if he was bluffing or not, but this would be the perfect time to execute my plan.

"You may bring your friend, as well."

Crona squeaked.

"I accept."

"Great!" Kurokasai clapped his hands together, excited. "Right this way, guests."

Giving Crona an expecting glance, I pulled him by his arm and followed on along behind Kurokasai. This was going to be an interesting evening.

Kurokasai led us into a large, suspiciously dark, cold room, with high celings and one long, wooden table. It somewhat resembled a banquet hall, all except for the fact that everything was covered in cobwebs and there was a skeleton sitting in the corner - I couldn't tell if it was real or not, but this room definitely added to the overall creepiness of the entire home. I stole a horrified glance at Kurokasai, convinced that this was where he was planning to slotter us.

"Oh, don't be so mistrusting," Kurokasai insisted, waving his hand in my direction. He must have been reading my thoughts. He jerked his finger towards the table in the center of the room and snapped, "Observe." With the blink of an eye, the room was suddenly bathed in bright golden light, the cobwebs disappeared replaced with beautiful golden thread, and the table was clothed in a long, white cloth. Laid upon the table was an endless supply of delicious, mouth-watering food. There were also four golden chairs now gathered around the center of the table.

Gasping, I turned to stare wide-eyed at Kurokasai. "If you could do that anytime, why do you keep the room so dark and creepy?"

He shrugged. "It suits my liking." Gesturing to the table, he cried, "Now, friends, eat and be merry!"

Being careful not to look too enthusiastic, I followed Kurokasai and his wife to the cluster of chairs in the center of the room. Crona, as usual, was hesitant. I yanked him forward by his arm.

I pulled out mine and Crona's chairs, across from Kurokasai and his wife. In the bright light I could finally see details about the two. Kurokasai had the same wild green hair as his son, except darker and shorter. He had to be hundreds of years old, yet he showed no signs of aging whatsoever. There were no wrinkles on his face and his dark eyes were surprisingly young and full of life, sparkling mischievously under the bright lights. His wife Leena was equally young-looking, with long dark hair and dark eyes, yet unsettling pale skin. She wouldn't meet my gaze.

I looked to Crona next to me, who was already digging into the food. Guess his hunger got the best of him.

The glass sitting in front of me caught my eye. It was full of dark red liquid. I grabbed the glass and swished the liquid around, staring at it. "Um, what is this?"

"Wine," Kurokasai answered boredly.

"I don't drink."

"Mh? Why not?"

I tapped the glass. "It's illegal."

Kurokasai's face fell, as if he were disappointed. "Ah. Seems so." He reached across the table and twirled his finger above the glass. "There. Grape juice."

The liquid hadn't changed colors, but I took note that red wine and grape juice were sort of the same color anyway. Well, it smelled like grape juice. I didn't trust Kurokasai yet but I didn't want to offend him. I hesitantly took a sip. Leena rolled her eyes.

"My, my, have I forgotten introductions?" Kurokasai looked horrified. "Children, this is my wife, Leena." He gestured to the tall, dark, busty woman beside him. She definitely had a mysterious, witch vibe about her. Shaking off my doubts, I plastered on a pleasant smile.

"Nice to meet you, miss Leena," I said, and Crona nodded shyly.

"Leena, this is DWMA studen Melody Marhal, and her friend..." He looked at me expectantly.

"Crona."

"Her friend Crona."

"Nice to meet you both," Leena purred. Her voice was low and trance-like, and she somehow reminded me of exactly what a stereotypical witch should be like. There was a small half smile on her face. I couldn't tell if it was artificial kindness or not.

"So, children, what brings you to visit me today?" Kurokasai looked at me expectantly. I used my fork to move around the food on my plate, not feeling very hungry at the moment.

"I just wanted to make things right."

Kurokasai set his wine glass on the table and cleared his throat, staring me down from across the table. "Is that so?" His expression was difficult to classify, but it sent chills down my back.

I nodded once, suddenly finding it a bit difficult to squeeze words out of my throat. "Y-yes. It's my fault Soul was hurt and I - "

"So you want me to heal Soul? That's what this is?"

I straightened, shocked he would say that. "No, I - "

He snapped his fingers. "Done." Boredly, he took another sip of his wine.

"Wh-what?"

"I healed him, your boyfriend. Soul."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"That's a shame," Kurokasai droned, without looking up from his wineglass.

"Yeah, I know - I mean, uh, um, no. W-why'd you heal him?" I felt a blush spreading across my cheeks, I had let my feelings get the better of me and had spoken without thinking. Kurokasai arched his eyebrows dubiously.

"Because you asked me to."

"I'm...not quite sure I understand."

Kurokasai appeared as if he were getting impatient. He sighed. "Miss Marshal, can I ask? What did you _really_ come here for?"

"Like I said...I wanted to make things right."

He continued staring at me, dark eyes narrowing. "This is about AJ."

I was almost surprised, until I remembered he could read minds. "Maybe it is. Would you be willing to listen to my request?"

Kurokasai began laughing. He was laughing uncontrollably and I had no clue what to do or say. I spared a perplexed glance at Crona and waited until the Phantom calmed down. Although, when he finally did speak, he didn't seem very calm in the least.

"I'll listen, Miss Marshal," he said lowly, almost growling. The way he was acting was a bit unsettling, to say the least. "Tell me your request."

I cleared my throat nervously, suddenly feeling awfully warm around my collar area. "Well, I...want to see AJ. I would like to apologize."

* * *

**I think I'm finally starting to get back to normal updates with this story again :D**

**bleach102 - Thank you! Please continue reading :3**

**Confetti108 - Lol thank you, I always love reading your reviews! Hilarious. And yeah lol I tried to make Black Star as in-character as possible for this chapter, and as for the Black Star/Soul competition thing, I'm going to do it, but not as a serious thing though(; And yeah Crona will always care for Melody. Partners till the end.(: d'aww.**

**Marysa Way - Aww thanks! :D Did this chapter answer your question? :P And don't worry I used to feel the same way about Black Star so I know how it is, but he has grown on me now lol.**


	18. Chapter 18: Off Again

Black Star had crossed his fingers behind his back. He never intended to keep his promise to Melody in the first place.

Sure, he was up for helping her fix her mistakes, and he wasn't going to question her on what she was doing either, but come on now. Everyone of Melody's friends could tell she was the type of girl to make stupid, reckless decisions and force herself to follow through on them. Even Black Star of all people could see that.

(Hey, lady! You asking for a fight? Ha! Challenging a God...and you call _me_ the stupid one.)

(Shh, Black Star. Hush.)

Of course he was going to tell Soul what she was up to. He really wasn't up for hearing the white-haired weapon beg and plead and complain for ages. And of course, there was also the fact that Soul seemed like the only person able to help Melody. But that didn't really matter to Black Star.

"Remind me why I need to pack again?"

Random pieces and articles of clothing flew threw the air, whizzing just past the tips of Black Star's electric blue hair. He chuckled to himself, pleased at his best friend's displeasure. "Because she did, and from the way she was acting it seemed like she was going away for a while. I just don't want you to regret _not_ packing."

"And where was she going exactly?"

Black Star nodded to the unpatient white-haired boy. "Finish packing and I'll show you."

Soul huffed, grabbing random articles of clothing and stuffing them inside a bag. "This is so stupid," he grumbled to himself, zipping up the bag and throwing it over his shoulder. He looked at Black Star expectanly. "Can we go now?"

"Yeah." Black Star smirked and jerked his head in the direction of the doorway. "Let's go get your woman."

"Soul?" The voice of Maka startled them both, and they turned to see the blonde meister standing in the doorway, her green eyes wide and puzzled. "What's going on? Shouldn't you still be in the hospital?" Her gaze moved from one boy to the other, her eyebrows furrowing. "Why is Black Star here? And why do you have a backpack?"

Soul instantly felt guilty. His meister almost looked hurt.

"What's going on?" she repeated, her confusion deepening.

Soul wasn't quite sure what to say. He stared at his meister, dumbfounded, until Black Star elbowed him in the ribs. Sparing a glare at his friend, Soul awkwardly began his explanation.

"Well, um, Red disappeared. And apparently Black Star knows where she is, so he's going to take me to her." Soul grimaced. _So not cool._

"She...disappeared?" Maka arched an eyebrow in Black Star's direction, who cleared his throat.

"I believe she went to go face that evil guy who attacked everyone last night," he explained smoothly. "I dunno, I didn't ask."

Soul bristled, suddenly alert. He turned on Black Star, grabbing him by the shoulders. "You idiot! How could you let her go and do something so dumb without even questioning it?" He shook his friend back and forth impatiently.

Black Star threw his hands up in defense. "Hey, she seemed pretty sure of herself to me! Last thing I wanted to do was throw myself in _that _line of fire." He huffed flamboyantly to emphasize his point.

Soul sighed, releasing his grip on the other boys' shoulders. "Black Star, you're a complete dumbass sometimes."

Maka watched in disbelief as the two boys burst out laughing. They were best friends, all right.

"Anyway, if you're right about why she left, then I know where she is," Soul continued, turning away from Black Star, suddenly serious. "I don't need your help anymore, so you don't have to stick around unless you want to."

"Refusing the help of a God?" Black Star scoffed. "Boy, _that's_ smart. Nah, you're not getting rid of me so easy, slick. I think I'll stick around. I wanna get my shot at this Phantom guy. If anyone can teach that creepo a lesson, it's me and my Godliness." Black Star puffed out his chest in an overly cocky manner that only Black Star, and Black Star only, would ever be capable of.

Soul shrugged compliantly. "I'm cool with that." He remembered that Maka was still there, and he awkwardly turned his gaze to her. She looked at him expectantly.

"So...you're going after her?"

"Well, yeah, but Maka, I - "

"Because you love her?"

Soul stopped abruptly, completely thunderstruck. He felt heat rise to his face, which he reminded himself was not cool, not cool in the least. "How..." He couldn't even finish the rest of his sentence. He just wanted to melt into the floor and evaporate.

Maka laughed. That had to be the most horrifying part, that Maka, his meister - usually the one who is mortified like this while he stood by and laughed - laughed at him. Her hand was covering her giggling mouth - as if _that_ would hide it from him? - and her pigtails bobbed with every move she made. He waited, perturbed, until she finally calmed down. Then she said, "Soul, I know your soul better than anyone else. Of course I know your feelings for her. You're an idiot to think that I wouldn't."

Soul grimaced again in reply, still speechless.

She turned to leave the room, but turned back a second later. "I'm coming with you. I'm packing too, so wait for me before you leave."

Maka shut Soul's bedroom door behind her as she left the room, and as soon as the two boys were alone again, Black Star burst out laughing. Soul punched him.

"Not cool, Black Star!"

oOoOo

The dining hall suddenly got so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Suddenly, I got the feeling I was going to regret that request.

"Apologize...for what?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched the Phantom clench a fistful of the white tablecloth in his fingers. I winced.

"Well, first of all...I want to apologize to you, K...Kurokasai. For going against your wishes and sneaking AJ out. It was stupid and reckless of me, I admit. I would also like to see AJ, to apologize to him as well. For getting him in trouble and causing him pain." I felt like my explanation was a bit pathetic, and didn't really help my situation at all. I sighed, feeling hopeless. "So, I'm sorry."

Kurokasai eyed me. "You're sorry?"

I nodded quickly. "Now...would you allow me to see AJ?"

With no warning whatsoever, Kurokasai brought his hand down upon the table, and within the blink of an eye, swiped away every plate, glass, or fork within his reach. I jumped, frozen in my chair as everything clattered to the ground, crashing and shattering, along with my hopes. My irregular heartbeat suddenly pounded in my ears. Kurokasai was fuming.

He shot to his feet, knocking his chair over backwards in his haste. He reached across the table and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt, pulling my face in an uncomfortably close proximity to his. I couldn't help but notice that, despite how much James despised this man, their techniques of harassing me were oddly similar. After thinking this I mentally slapped myself for my straying thoughts. This was definitely not the time.

"I do not care for your foolish apologies, Miss Marshal. Frankly, I do not care for you at all." He threw his head back and laughed coldly. "Such a foolish, oblivious little girl. You thought you could actually trust a Phantom? You thought you could be friends with a Phantom?" He looked me in the eyes, growling. "You really are a piece of work."

Momentarily, I flitted my gaze sideways in Crona's direction, to see he had sunk down in his seat and was trembling behind the table. The witch had somehow appeared behind him and was now seductively stroking his shoulders. His face went white.

Kurokasai grabbed my wrist in a tight hold and brought my stitched-up hand to his face to investigate. "That Professor really did do a nice stitch job," he observed. "What was his name again? Stein?"

"You know Stein?" I asked breathlessly. It's a little hard to breathe when some guy with superhuman strength is holding you up by your shirt.

Kurokasai smiled coldly at me. "Of course I do. We go way back." He sighed, dropping my hand to my side. He tapped his chin with his finger thoughtfully, as if he were trying to remember something. "What was I going to do to you, again?"

"She asked to see AJ," Leena reminded him from her spot behind Crona. She smiled facetiously up at me.

"Oh...yes." Quietly, the Phantom began chuckling again, but after a few moments it grew to a roar. He threw me backwards and I fell, hard, in my chair. "_You want to see AJ_? YOU WANT TO SEE AJ?" He repeated himself, now yelling, and jumped up on the table. He pointed down at me, his finger right between my eyes, and I slowly rose out of my chair, backing up. Boy, this guy was explosive.

He leapt off the table and enclosed the space between us, trapping me between his craziness and the wall, which was now cold, damp, and cobwebby again. If I had taken the time to look around the room I would have seen that it was once again the way it had looked when we first entered it, skeleton and all. But of course, I was too preoccupied being harassed by a time lord.

"I'LL SHOW YOU AJ!" he roared. "YOU AND YOUR FRIEND BOTH!" With a wave of his finger, almost as if he were beckoning Crona toward him, Crona flew towards us almost as if he were a magnet. Crona clutched my side, trembling into my shoulder as the Phantom began laughing again.

Everything from that point on seemed to go in fast motion and all at once, and is very hazy in my memory. I heard footsteps from the entrance, and the voices of three people that were familiar but I just couldn't quite place. They were calling for me, and I wanted to call back to them, but I couldn't find my voice. The Phantom's grip on my shoulders got tighter and his eyes seemed very far-off and empty, the way they seemed to whenever he was using magic or manipulating time. "Say hello to my son for me," he murmured sadistically, mirthlessly, and suddenly there was a very empty feeling inside of me. I shut my eyes tight as the uncomfortable feeling worsened, and then suddenly there was the strange sensation of the floor beneath me disappearing.

Suddenly there was a lot of commotion going on around me. Someone grabbed my hand. Then we fell.

* * *

**Okay.**

**How. Epic. Was that? **

**More epic than chapter 13? I'd say so. But I want your opinion! I want responses on how epically epic it was! So review! Review to your hearts content, my lovelies~!**

**This chapter was definitely the most fun to write, by far. The first half was a little funner, idk why :P (Funner's not a word xD) BUT, moving on.**

**Confetti108 - I'm glad it makes you happy! Mutual happiness here xD And yeah, it is a little weird, I think I created the Phantom with like some sort of personality disorder without meaning to o_O. Very creepy indeeeed. But you'll have to wait a little longer to see her talk to AJ.(; mwahahaha.**

**Bleach102 - Lol, well, ahhh...he can be nice when he wants to be xD**

**Tokamaru - asdfkkjghklja;dajkl your review was amusing and I already PMed you with my response :D**


	19. Chapter 19: Mr Creepy Cloak

I blinked my eyes open.

It was like it was a groggy, hazy morning. My vision was fuzzy and my head felt heavy. Everything was foggy, and far-off. I couldn't remember anything. What was my name again? Oh, that's right. Melody freakin' Marshal. For a few moments I had trouble keeping my eyes open. It felt like I had been sleeping for ages.

There was a whizzing noise, and something sharp barely grazed my face, sticking straight up into the wooden floor beneath me. A knife? Wait. Wooden floor?

I sat up, suddenly alert. Last I remembered, I lost consciousness in Kurokasai's dining hall. I thought for sure at that moment he was going to kill me. But yet I woke up here, on a wooden floor, in a dimly lit room full of people I didn't know. What in the...?

"Oi! You, the redhead."

I looked around for the person who was speaking to me. To my horror, this wasn't just a room full of people I didn't know. This was a room full of _pirates_. And ruffians, and scallywags, and well, just all-around bad-looking guys. Shakily, I got to my feet, taking note of my friends all lying around my feet. I counted them. Crona, Maka, Black Star, and...Soul. Freaking wonderful.

I was kind of hoping they were all still alive.

"You deaf, girl? Ain't ya heard me talkin' to ya?" One of the pirates stepped forward, a particularly mean-looking one, waving his hook in my face. "Don't just think you can just fall from the sky, bustin' up the ceilings, land in the middle o' our pub an' just get away with it, lass. Oh no, not on my watch ya don't."

"Um, I," - My voice shook, _damn_ - "I don't even know how I got - "

"What do ya mean ya don't know how ye got here? Ye fell from the damned sky, you blithering - "

Another knife sliced the air, whizzing right past my ear and stabbing the wooden wall behind me.

"Enough arguing," a second pirate growled from the shadows. He stepped forward, and I could see he was equally mean-looking as his friend. Fortunately, his grammar was a bit better. "I say we put this redhead to good use." He smiled maniacally, and pulled out a rope. I didn't know what he meant by that, and I was hoping I wouldn't find out.

The other pirates around him cheered in approval. "Her friends too," someone added from the back. To my horror, at that moment, Maka started stirring. She looked up at me, almost questioningly. The pirates noticed, and they cheered to that as well, while I gave her a helpless glance.

"What are you waiting for? Rope them all up!" someone hollered. There was another collective cheer and the pirates began closing in, their cheers becoming more bloodthirsty. I stood in fear, paralyzed. Maka made a move as if she was about to get up and help me, but then something happened. Something solid and possibly human whammed into me from the side, and I felt myself being lifted into the air. I felt myself being carried then, and the pirates all let out a roar of disapproval.

I gasped, looking down and finding a back, to discover I was being carried like a sack of potatoes out of the pirates' pub. I took one last look back at my friends, to see Maka and Crona (who was now awake as well) staring at me as the pirates surrounded them. The scenery passing by me changed, I assumed I was being carried out the door. I panicked.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded to my captor. He was silent. I pounded on his back, louder, "Hey, idiot! You gonna answer me?"

"God, you're obnoxious," he grumbled, perplexed. Well, now I was sure he was really a _he. _His voice was familiar, I just couldn't quite place it. He sounded as though he were my age.

"Excuse me, but I don't take well to being kidnapped," I shot back. My captor chuckled.

"You'd better get used to it."

I scoffed. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? And would you put me _down_ already?"

"Not safe yet," he grunted. I rolled my eyes but stopped fighting back, giving the ground a somber look as he carried me to who knows where.

After a few minutes he shifted, and I felt myself being set down. "I'm not a ragdoll, you know," I huffed as I sat down on the cold surface beneath me. I looked up at my captor to hopefully discover his identity, but to my dismay, he had a black hood over his head that shrouded his face. The hood was connected to a long black cloak that covered basically everything else - except for the tip of his faded red sneakers that peeked out from underneath. So basically, he somewhat resembled one of those dementor things from Harry Potter.

Terrified, I got ready to bolt. But the ground beneath me lurched and I lost my balance, sprawling out on all fours.

"What is this?" I snapped, struggling to stand. I glanced around to find four walls surrounding me, each about five feet from where I was standing. It was dark, except for two twin streams of light filtering in through cracks between the walls on either side of me and the walls intercepting them, so I assumed they were sliding doors... So that could only mean one thing. We were on a train.

"A train, obviously."

The train lurched again and I stumbled forward, almost ramming into my captor. I narrowed my eyes at him. "What about my friends? Why save me and not them? Answer that one, Mr. Creepy Cloak!"

"Well, I figured they could fare pretty well by themselves, considering they're not outlaws, Miss Marshal," he reproached matter-of-factly. I went to make a sassy reply, but then I processed what he had said.

"Outlaw?" Breathlessly, I shook my head. "N-no, you've got the wrong girl, I'm not - "

Swiftly, he pulled something out from the folds of his cloak and handed it to me. A rolled up, crinkled piece of parchment. I gingerly took it from him and unraveled it, alarmed by what I saw. There was an intricately drawn sketch of me, then huge block letters underneath spelling out "WANTED", and smaller, beneath that, "Melody Louise Marshal, wanted dead or alive." Then some small print explaining conditions and reward money.

"Th...this can't be." My breath caught in my throat and my knees bucked beneath me, threatening to collapse. My captor caught me, steadying me. He was surprisingly gentle, for a kidnapper and all.

"Maybe you should sit," he suggested, pushing me gently to the floor. I complied, still in shock, still trying to put things together.

"Why would Lord Death..."

My captor interrupted me. "Lord Death?"

I looked at him expectantly. "Lord Death, you know, the big guy? Kind of the creator of Death City?"

He said nothing, unmoving. I got the feeling that under his hood he was staring at me like I was an idiot. My face went red. I tried to cover it up.

"You live in Death City and you don't even know who Lord Death is?"

My captor let out a big sigh. "Look, I've never even heard of Death City. Right now we're in the outskirts of Pagoda - well, we were five minutes ago when we got on the train. Who knows where we are now."

"Pagoda?"

" - _But _I do recognize the name Lord Death. Is that from a movie, or a book? Maybe Death City is the imaginary land he inhibits."

I scrunched my face up defiantly. "Uh, no. I live in Death City, I would know."

My captor reached his hand out towards my forehead. "Are you feeling alright? Do you have a fever?"

I swatted his hand away. "Yeah, I'm freaking fine, Creepy Cloak."

He snorted. "What did you call me?"

"Creepy Cloak. And I'm gonna keep calling you that until you tell me who you are."

"You wouldn't believe me even if I _did _tell you."

"Try me."

He looked as though he were considering it for a moment, but then he shook his hooded head. "It doesn't matter. It would only get us into even more trouble."

"We're in trouble? How much?"

"Well, you're an outlaw, and I just kidnapped you, with no intention whatsoever of delivering you to the capitol. Considering the circumstances, that right there is trouble enough."

I frowned. "Okay. Stop. Rewind. Brain freeze. Capitol? What circumstances? Where are we? And how did we get here? Last I remember, I was in Kurokasai's lair about to be killed just for requesting to see AJ."

My captor looked suddenly alert. "You wanted to see AJ?"

I nodded quickly.

"I can take you to see AJ."

I grinned. "You can?" My grin faded. "Wait, how do you even know AJ?"

He hesitated. "I'm not sure actually. I don't...remember. He was the one who told me to rescue you, though. The other day. I was in the market place and, he just showed up. Green hair and all. Told me he had a vision, and that _I _needed to save you. Me specifically. He never mentioned why. Anyway, he gave me a time and a place and I made sure to do as was told. Naturally, I was a bit doubtful at first, you know, saving an outlaw 'n all, but I figured I'd go to the pub on the night he instructed, stake it out, and in the case that you _did _happen to appear, I would rescue you. Also, he gave strict instructions to rescue _only _you, and if anyone else was there, to leave them, because they would live."

"They would...live? What do you...what do you mean?" I got a very unpleasant feeling sinking into my gut. "Are you implying you saved my life?"

Creepy Cloak nodded slowly. "Well, not in so many words - "

"No...I wouldn't have died, would I? Those pirates wouldn't have..."

"No, the _pirates_ wouldn't have..." he said loftily.

I furrowed my brow, beginning to get suspicious. "But...how would AJ have told you all that? How would he have _known _all that?"

"What do you mean?"

"But he's just a boy."

Creepy Cloak chuckled. "AJ is a very smart and powerful guy. I wouldn't go rip on him if I were you. He can do things. Things that no one else on earth can do."

It bothered me how Creepy Cloak referred to AJ as a guy instead of a boy, but I let it go. I figured I was just being paranoid, and honestly, I really didn't want to focus on this subject any longer than was necessary. "Okay...so...how do we find him?"

"Well," Creepy Cloak started, pulling a map out from within the folds of his cloak, "We started out here." He pointed to a little dot on the map which I guessed must represent the pub. "Judging by how fast the train travels, we have to be somewhere around here." He pointed to a spot on the traintracks that was near a somewhat wooded area. Without another word, he snapped up the map and stuffed it back inside his cloak. "That means we get off here."

"Wait - what do you mean, get off here - ?"

He wrenched open one of the sliding doors and moonlight filtered inside the boxcar. I stared, bewildered, out at the countryside zooming past. "Will the train stop?" I had to yell over the roaring wind in my ears.

"Nope," he yelled back. Before I could say anything else, he grabbed my hand, took a step back, and shouted, "Three...two...one!" Then he took a running leap and we both went flying out of the boxcar, the train barreling past without us.

We landed hard on the ground, tumbling for a moment before rolling to a stop. The world was spinning around me. "Are you crazy?" I shrieked at Creepy Cloak, clutching my dizzy head. My gaze flitted to him at just the last second before he readjusted his hood, and I got a quick glimpse at what appeared to be _white _hair. Or was it blonde? It was hard enough to tell in the moonlight, and when you factor in my spinning vision, well, let's just say I wasn't sure at all.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently, getting to his feet. He held out a hand to help me up. "I'm not crazy."

Ignoring his outstretched hand, I pushed myself to a standing position, despite my nausea. "Do you do that often then? Jump from boxcar cabs while the train is running at full speed?"

He shrugged. "Life of a bounty hunter, I guess."

"Wait. You're a bounty hunter? And you captured me, knowing I was an outlaw. Yet you refuse to turn me in to the government?"

He sighed. "Look, I don't entirely _trust_ the government. I work for them, but I don't trust them. There's just something about them that's not good. I trust my instincts, and when I pick up someone I _know _is good, I make sure I keep them safe." He turned and started walking towards the woods. I got the feeling that he wanted me to follow after him, so I did.

"So you're kind of like a double agent?" I asked, hurrying to keep up with his long strides.

He laughed. "No, I just really like justice."

* * *

**GUESS.**

**Who do you think he is?(; If you get it right, you get cooookies~!**

**Anyway, I take back what I said last chapter. THIS was by far my most favorite chapter to write. And well, the plot thickens, as they say ;D**

**I got SO MUCH, SO MUCH akdskhsjlshggljaflj planned. It's crazy. In a way, everything ties together in the end. I'm such a genuis. mwahahaha.**

**ANYWHO, was that amazing or what? Review, my lovelies!(;**

**T.A.G. - Hahaha, he must be xD who knows, with guys THAT crazy. I wouldn't be surprised if he DID pull out a dead body D: and i didn't know it meant black anything O: I just pulled that name outta my butt. lolol i made it up on the spot :P HAHAHA, madder than edward elric called short. that made me laugh cause i just recently started watching FMA.**

**Confetti108 - ah, thank you thank you thank you! :D yes, defff! And yes, I don't plan on them confronting their feelings for a loooong while.(; Just like the most epic fight ever won't happen for a loooong while! Mwahahaha!**

**GabbieVantas - Lol, thank you! xD please continue reading!**

**Tokamaru - ARGHHH, I KNOW! ahaha, thank you! :P well i tried lol, don't die! o:**

**SEXY tARDIS - lolol, nice penname! and oh shucks, i didnt know i was so amazing :D but you already have enough amazingness just judging by that review! woooot. Thank you for your review, please continue reading! :b**


	20. Chapter 20: Treehouse

We made our way through the dark, quiet woods quickly, the only sound around us being the crickets and the hooting owls. The moon gave off a bright light, but unfortunately it wasn't bright enough so that I could at least see where I was going. I was trying to be as discreet as possible but I kept stepping on twigs and leaves and Mr. Creepy Cloak would have to turn around and shush me. Then I would mock him and give him a funny face.

We had only been travelling for not even ten minutes and he stopped, holding an arm out to prevent me from going any further. I stood behind him, puzzled, and whispered, "Why are we stopping?" Then suddenly, to my surprise, Creepy Cloak threw a hand over my mouth and ducked down behind a tree, yanking me with him.

I was about to bite his hand and ask him what the hell was going on, but then I heard it. A second party, traipsing through the forest almost like I had been a few seconds before. I tore his hand away from my face and cautiously peered around the tree, only to get a glimpse of a second cloaked figure, who had a shocking resemblance to the one who was accompanying me. Except for the fact that this cloaked individual wore boots instead of sneakers, and seemed a bit taller.

Creepy Cloak #1 yanked me back by my collar, so that my head was no longer peeking out from behind the tree. We sat, frozen in silence and holding our breath, as we listened to Creepy Cloak #2's large boots clunk past us and on into the forest. My heartbeat seemed so loud that he was going to hear it any second and come after us and do...whatever Creepy Cloaks do.

When he finally seemed far away enough that we were safe, the two of us let out our breath finally. "What was that all about?" I hissed, eyeing my captor. He took one last look behind me just to make sure no one else was around.

"Another bounty hunter," he explained, standing up and continuing on again. "They're not all as friendly as me."

I followed after him, glancing over my shoulder as well. My captor might have _seemed_ friendly, but I still didn't entirely trust him. And I wouldn't, as long as he withheld his identity from me. You don't just trust random guys in cloaks you meet in pirate bars that kidnap you.

Maybe if he didn't have his hood up I could tell who he was...I mean, if he knew me, I must have known him, right? But how could I get him to take his hood off? Maybe I could just...pull it off myself without him noticing... Quietly, I tried to subtly reach my hand through the darkness towards the back of his hood. He couldn't even see what I was doing, any second now I would grab it and rip it off and know who he was. Almost there...

Without warning, his hand shot out of nowhere and gripped my wrist, just as my fingertips grazed the fabric of his hood. _Damn!_ He never even turned his head! This guy was too good...maybe just another reason not to trust him.

"Don't even try it," he said simply, dropping my arm. And that was that. I sulked in the background for a few minutes before I got over it. Soon enough, another question came to my mind.

"What happens if you get caught helping me?" I asked, trying to keep up with him.

"We both get executed," he answered plainly. I frowned. If he was willing to risk death to help me, then maybe he wasn't _so _bad...

"What did I do that was so bad?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. But I _know _you're not a criminal."

He sounded more sure than anyone had ever sounded, but in a way, it made me uncomfortable. How could this person, who I'd never even met before, be _so sure_ about me? He stopped suddenly and not realizing it, I bumped into him from behind.

"Here we are," he said. I stared at the tree in front of us.

"That's a tree," I said, dumbfounded. I imagine my captor must have been rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, it's a tree. Look up."

I did as he was told, and tilted my head backwards as I looked up the tree trunk. High up among the branches, was a large, wooden tree house. "AJ lives up there?" I murmured, wide-eyed. "Why?"

My captor shrugged. "Privacy. Who knows, he's a strange guy."

There was that "_guy_" again. "You mean boy," I corrected.

"Yeah sure, whatever." Creepy Cloak approached the tree trunk, grabbed a branch, and hoisted himself up. "Well? You coming?"

"We're climbing?"

He snorted. "No, we're flying." He climbed up to the second branch and sat on it, looking down at me expectantly. The moonlight reflected on his face and I got a quick glimpse of grey eyes before he turned and started climbing again.

Could it be...? No. Impossible.

"You better hurry or I'll leave you down there," he called down to me. "All alone by yourself in the dark scary woods..."

I wasn't gonna let that fly, so I shook off my thoughts and grabbed the first branch. I had never liked climbing trees as a child. Heights weren't really my thing. Of course, dark, scary woods were even less of my thing.

When I climbed all the way to the treehouse, there was an open door in the floor of it, waiting for me to climb inside. My captor stuck his hand out the door to help hoist me inside. Reluctantly, I took it, and was heaving on the floor of the treehouse seconds later.

"Someone's out of shape," Creepy Cloak said sarcastically, shaking his head. I was too exhausted to punch him.

"No one likes a smartass," I huffed, pushing myself to a sitting position.

He laughed. "Well, no one likes a dumbass, so I guess we both have no friends."

I couldn't help but laugh at that one. Our laughter was short-lived though, as a voice from the darkness startled us both.

"Who's there?"

It was definitely AJ, but his voice was...deeper? I stood up abruptly, ignoring the dizzy spell that came over me afterwards. My captor did the same.

"It's me," Creepy Cloak called back. "I brought _her, _I hope you don't mind."

Out of the darkness came someone who was _way _too tall to be ten. But the green hair, the pale skin, it was all there. "Red, it's been way too long," he said, embracing me in a hug. This was all too much to take.

I screamed.

"You're - you're _old_!" I shrieked, prying myself away from him. I backed up and stared at him, aghast. "Why are you old?"

"Red, I'm not that old!" He attempted to calm me down by grabbing my shoulders, but it only made it worse. "It's only been five years."

"Five _years_?" I wailed, clutching my throbbing head. "You're - you're _fifteen_? But...but _I'm _fifteen!" I gasped for breath, finding myself short of it. "Did I bump my head or something? Was I in a coma? Did five years pass without my knowing it? AM I TWENTY NOW?"

"No, no, you're still fifteen!" he yelled in protest, waving his hands back and forth. I backed up even further away from him.

"But we can't both be fifteen!" I insisted, covering my hands with my face. "You're not AJ! AJ's just a little boy!" Confused, horrified, and at a loss of what to do next, I scurried back to my captor and hid behind his back. He was the only thing I had in this strange place that gave off any sense of familiarity.

"But, Red," 15-year-old AJ started awkwardly, "You know who he is right?" He nodded towards my captor.

"No, I don't..." I stopped mid sentence, my face going white. At that moment I put it all together. The grey eyes, the fact that he seemed to be my age, the hair that had appeared white but was actually..._blonde._

James pulled off his hood and smiled sheepishly at me. I couldn't handle any more shock. I think I passed out.

How embarrassing.

* * *

**So I guess I have a few things to apologize for!**

**First things first, I am soooo sorry it took me so long to update o; I'm dealing with a lot of stress right now, partly concerning school stuff, but yayyy, now we can celebrate, 'cause I got accepted into the school I applied to! -throws confetti- But I have no time to relax 'cause school starts in like, three days... -_-**

**Second things second, this chapter was short. I usually like my chapters to be about 2,000 words, but this one was only 1,200, so I went back through and added a billion things, and it still only ended up as 1,500. Whooops.**

_**AND ONLY ONE OF YOU GUESSED CORRECTLY. O:**_

**Congratulations to Marysa Way, here are your cookies~! -throws cookies in your direction- You all probably figured it out halfway through the chapter though, so you all get cookies to and and _A FOR EFFORT!_ -throws more cookies and more confetti-**

**Can you guys tell I'm typing this at 3 in the morning? Yeaaah...**

**Onto review responses!**

**The Alchemy Goddess - LOL you're right, 'cause Black Butler is Kurojutsi or however you spell it (I dont really watch Black Butler, eek) so Kuro must mean black, I'll take your word on Kasai though. xD I might make a joke out of his name further on in the story, HAHA. :P And concerning FMA, AHH, I know, it's so good, but the first episode was a bit frightening, so I'm grateful I didn't watch it at a younger age...but i must say, Edward Elric is quite attractive, for a shorty(; Bleach or Death Note was probably my first PG-13 anime, so I'm not a complete loser :P or it was Ghost Hound, which nobody's heard of -_-. I've always acknowledged "weird" as a compliment xD**

**bleach102 - LOLOL, sarcasm, chicken soup for the writers soul. On a Soul Eater story...no pun intended...**

**Confetti108 - Ah, I like being unexpected(; I love the fact that you're freaking out! :D It gets me excited lolol, feel free to go crazy all you want! And oh man, you were so close with the alternate universe thing, but ahh, I can't tell you what's really going on, you'll have to find out next chapterrrr.(;**

**Marysa Way - I'll try to write quicker! Sorry about that D; I really do love writing this so idk why it takes me so long sometimes. I'M WRITING I'M WRITING! :D**

**Harvey the Wonder Hamster - Haha, oh yes indeeedy.(;**

**Kagehana013 - Eeeeep, thank you sosososo much! :3 I love when people compliment my writing and grammar skills, I works so hard to make sure I don't sound like an idiot in my writing...lol. Thanks for your review, please continue reading!(:**

**Sorry the Author's Note was so long, I had a lot to say. And sorry if I misspelled anyone's pennames. I'm tired.**


	21. Chapter 21: Old Friends

When I came to, there was faint light, as if it was daybreak outside.

I sat up and peered around. I was lying in a bed, a wet rag over my forehead, in a small wooden room. No, not a room, a treehouse. There were two teenage boys sitting on the floor against the far wall, in a dead sleep. Everything came back to me then, and I suddenly felt like I was gonna be sick.

One of the boys shifted, and I quickly laid back down, pretending I was asleep.

"I saw you," James said. I threw the covers off and swung my legs over the side of the bed, staring James down from across the room.

"You're were conked out," I said suspiciously, "How did you - "

"Cat like reflexes," he explained aloofly. "How do you think I stopped you from grabbing my hood last night?"

My witty response stopped halfway up my throat, as I realized this explanation was actually legit. At a loss, I sighed and shook my head. "Isn't there some place a girl can take a shower around here?"

"Well, we're in the middle of the woods," James started, looking thoughtful, "So, no."

"But he lives - "

"_However_," James interrupted, jerking his thumb towards AJ, "We _do _have a Phantom with us, so I'm sure he can just snap you clean or something."

I scrunched up my nose, puzzled. "Wake him up, then."

"Are you crazy?" James spared a sideways glance at the green-haired boy. "He'll turn me into a frog or something - no way!"

"You're such a baby," I huffed, standing up and advancing across the treehouse to the two of them. AJ looked so peaceful sleeping, as apposed to how angsty and somber he usually looked. It almost seemed like a shame to wake him. Then I sniffed myself and remembered why I needed to.

"AJ," I waved my hand in front of his face awkwardly. Now that it was daylight, I realized just how strange it was to see him my age. I noticed there was a scar over his left eye. I wondered how that got there...

"You can't be so gentle all the time, Red," James said coolly. "Like this." I watched, horrified, as he grabbed AJ by the shoulders and shook him, screaming, "WAKE YOUR ASPARAGUS ASS UP NOW, ARCHIE."

Hah, I guess the "asparagus" thing stuck with him...

AJ jumped awake, eyes wide at the fact that the blonde boy was still shaking him. He narrowed his eyes and shouted, "YOU DICK!" before tackling the other boy. And then they were wrestling. I will never understand the male mind.

Then a thought seemed to strike me. "Wait...you guys are friends?"

They both stopped wrestling, mid-punch, to stare at me. "What do you mean?" AJ asked, lowering his fist.

I bit my lip, hesitating. "Well, before, when you were ten, I mean, you kinda hated each other?"

"We did?" James asked, looking intruiged. I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly.

"You don't remember?" It seemed like a strange thing to forget. "James, you hated AJ with a passion. AJ, you were awfully scared of James."

"I don't remember much," James admitted. He dropped his grip on AJ's collar and leaned his head closer to me, suddenly curious. "What was I like back then?"

"High-class and bossy," I deadpanned. AJ started laughing, and James elbowed him hard in the ribs.

"Was I as good looking as I am now?" James asked smoothly, giving me a wily smirk.

"No," I replied flatly, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, so you think I'm good looking now, then?" He leaned even closer. "Hm?"

I felt the heat rise to my face. "Yes - I mean no - I mean, you've certainly grown up a bit..." I shook my head. "I'm not answering any more questions until AJ snaps me clean!"

"Until I do what?" AJ interrupted, looking puzzled.

"Snap me clean - you know, with your magical powers an all."

Now it was his turn to blush. "Eh, I sorta, kinda...got my powers taken away..."

"You _what_?" James and I snapped in unison.

"Yeah. Poof. Gone." He made poofing signals with his hands to exaggerate the gesture.

I threw my hands up in exasperation. "You've got to be kidding me! Now how am I supposed to clean up?"

"Uh, there's a river down south of here," he started, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the general southern area. "I could give you some soap and some extra clothes if you want..."

"Yeah, sure, make me do it the hard way," I griped, as he turned to go fetch the items. "What good is a Phantom without his powers?"

AJ returned moments later with a pile of clothes, soap, and a small towel. "Do you want me to show you where the river is?"

I sighed, taking the stack from him and turning towards the door in the floor. "No, I think I can handle it. Thanks anyway." I started climbing out of the tree house.

James's smirking face peeked down at me. "I promise not to spy on you," he said slyly, winking.

"Pervert." I slammed the door in his face.

My bathe in the river was relaxing, but not exactly luxiourious. It was much different than I was used to. I took a while, it was almost as if the more water soaked into me, the more my brain tried to soak up all the information it had been given that morning and the previous night. Eventually, I got out, dried myself, and dressed. AJ's spare clothes were big on me...ironic.

I started on my way back to the treehouse.

"Took you long enough," James whined when I climbed back inside the treehouse.

"Whatever."

"Well, we'd better get on our way," AJ interrupted, standing up.

Bewildered, my gaze shifted between the two of them. "Wait, where? Why?"

"The others are waiting for us," he replied nonchalantly, shrugging my question off.

"What others?" I persisted. This conversation was getting more and more suspicious.

He let out a sigh of exasperation. "Hana, Ashen, Crimson..."

I perked up. "Really? Are they?" I was so excited I nearly glomped AJ. "Are they...older, like you?"

He nodded, looking even more exhausted, and we hadn't even left yet. I squeed and hurried back to the doorway. "Well? What are you guys waiting for? Let's get going!"

James rolled his eyes but they both followed me back down the tree.

oOoOo

"So where is _their _treehouse?" I asked excitedly, skipping on ahead. The trees were beginning to clear so I figured it had to be around here somewhere.

"If you don't slow down you'll fall right into it," AJ replied monotonously. Puzzled, I took one last step as I was going too fast to stop myself right then, but only felt air beneath my foot and then felt myself start to slip. It was too quick to give me time to scream, and I went tumbling, giggling, down some sort of rabbit hole. I found myself in a large, earthy room, with shelves lining the walls, three beds on the very opposite of the room than me, and right in the very center, was a fire pit with three teens gathered around it, laughing at something. They all stopped short and stared at me, wide eyed, when I finally sat up from where I had tumbled on my face.

Voiced echoed down the rabbit hole, where AJ and James appeared seconds later. James was laughing at my graceful entrance, and AJ was mumbling something about keeping their cover. The three teens bewildered gaze shifted to the two boys, and suddenly something happened that I was not expecting. One of the girls in the cave stood up suddenly, stormed over to James, and slapped him.

"James Hearthrow!" she snapped, glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

"Ashen," James replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his cheek. I couldn't tell if his face was beet red because of the slap or because he was embarrassed.

Staring at the girl, I finally made the connection. Ashen! I gazed back at the other two. The pink haired girl was definitely Hana. And the redhead boy was Crimson. I was so shocked it was hard to say anything.

"You said you'd be back a week ago," Ashen reprimanded James.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry Ash! I just got caught up with my job - "

"And who's _she_?" Ashen interrogated, swiveling her outstretched finger in my direction. I felt like it was piercing me right through the heart - how could she not remember me?

"AJ's friend. Just someone I'm helping."

"An outlaw?"

James didn't lose a beat. "No."

I blanched, feeling useless. It was like I was diseased or something. I had thought these people were my friends.

"Now, now, you two," Hana interrupted gently, waving us all further into the room. "Let's all sit and catch up. Save the quarreling for later."

We sat around the fire pit in a circle, as Crimson attempted to get a fire going. I suppose everyone was too weary for any ginger jokes, or maybe they had just gotten old. I sat in silence, wanting to sink into the ground. My gaze went back and forth throughout them all. It was strange to suddenly see them all so old. Hana's hair was so long, compared to the simple bob she had when she was ten. It fell in ringlets to her hips. Her face had grown longer and her eyes bigger, and she was ten times prettier than me now, if not a million. Crimson's hair was also longer and shaggier, falling below his ears and in his eyes. His voice was also deeper, but his lopsided smirk hadn't changed from when he was a kid. Ashen seemed a lot more grown up. She was no longer the carefree, nosy, childish girl she had been - she had matured. It almost seemed as though she had learned the hard way.

"The government stopped giving us our rations," Hana said out of nowhere, breaking the silence. "Crim's had to go out and hunt these past few days."

James perked up. "What? You've got to be kidding me."

Wide-eyed, Hana shook her head. Dead serious.

"I'll have a talk with the higher ups."

"Oh, darn," Crimson said, a mischievous glint in his blue eyes. "I was really enjoying the hunting."

Ashen gasped, standing up quickly. "I just remembered! I have to go bring in the laundry." Panicking, she scurried towards the cave's entrance.

"I'll go with you," James offered, following after her. They disappeared out of the cave's hole.

"Red!" Hana shrieked suddenly, dashing across the cave's floor to smother me in a hug.

"Hana?" I choked out, shocked. "You remember me?"

"How could I not?" She stepped back, face flushed with happiness, and looked me up and down. "Look at you, you haven't aged a day!"

"Well...I haven't."

She gasped, confused and excited all at once, she began speaking too fast for me to keep up. "But how? How are you here? We haven't seen you in so long! You just disappeared! You could have saved us, you could have helped! You were so strong, and you were the only one who could have stopped it. And you're an outlaw now! What happened, where did you go?"

With each question that flew out of her mouth, my heart sank lower and lower into my chest. Obviously, I was in the future, but...what happened in the five years I had skipped? Had Kurokasai sent me here on purpose? This was awfully fishy. It was going to take a while to sort all this out, and I certainly had quite a few questions for them all.

"Why doesn't Ashen remember me?" I blurted out. Well, I guess we'll start with that one then.

Hana's excited grin soon faded, and she sat back down, gesturing for me to do the same. I did.

"She doesn't remember a lot. Neither does James."

"I know that. But he remembers me."

Hana shrugged. "Different people remember different things. It just depends."

I scrunched up my nose. "What do you mean, different people remember different things? It seems like nobody around here remembers much..."

"Nobody does," Crimson spoke up, solemnly staring at the fire with his head in his hands. "I don't remember my family."

It was silent. A heartbreaking kind of silent. "I'm sorry," I said quietly.

"I remember I used to be happy," he continued. He looked as though he were searching far back through his past, remembering memories that were too good to be true. "My mom and dad, and my little sister...I went to school every day and I had friends and I was learning how to use my weapon abilities. Then one day everything changed. I don't remember how it happened...it's like there's a whole chunk of my memory missing, a big blank space. Then after that, the farthest back I can remember is two years ago. And not much has changed since then. Living here, underground in Pagoda, with the others...always hiding, always being afraid. I feel like something really traumatic happened. I would kill to remember it."

His words scared me. I felt like I had let them all down. "We all have similar stories," Hana added. "Chunks of our memories missing. Nobody knows why."

I looked back and forth between the three of them - Crimson, Hana, and AJ. They all wore similar expressions of sadness and remorse. What was this place? Where had Kurokasai sent me? And why?

"Okay, can somebody please explain to me what Pagoda is?" I finally asked.

"It's here," Hana said simply. "Where we live."

"Yeah, I got that. Who runs it?"

"King Kuro."

My stomach twisted. "You've got to be kidding me."

* * *

**Okay, first of all, I am sooooo sorry guys! I can't even begin to explain how sorry I am! I realize it's been month since I updated and you guys probably aren't even interested in this story anymore, and that makes me soooo sad ): It's all my fault guys, I'm a horrible person! Anyway, I hope you really enjoyed this update, even if you did have to wait forever. Unfortunately, I don't know how much longer it will be until I update again, just giving you guys a fair warning. It might be a loooong while. School is hard.**

**As for review responses, I think I already replied to those that were of importance, so I don't think responses are neccessary :P Plus I wouldn't even remember what the discussions were that we were talking about through reviews and responses. So we'll start fresh on this chapter.(;**

**I love you guys! Especially if you've stuck with me through this rough patch of writers block! Hahaha!**

**~Hugs-n-Symmetry.(:**


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